Rhyme & Reason
by TC9078
Summary: For years, Kakarot has lived day-to-day in the forests of Mount Paozu, unable to work on his mission or interact with anyone. Until one day, a young girl named Bulma arrived, searching for a collection of jewels that can grant any wish, and asking him along for the ride. He accepted: after all, what could possibly go wrong? (Current Arc: The 21st Tenkaichi Budokai awaits) On Hiatus
1. Bulma

**A/N: Dragon Ball is owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Shueisha, and Akira Toriyama. Will only be putting this at the beginning of arcs. Now, since you obviously don't want to read the disclaimer, onto the story!**

* * *

Deep in the forests of Mount Paozu, within a small shrine like house, a small boy slept in his bed. However, it was not a restful slumber. The boy's head was caked in sweat, and he tossed and turned all over, whimpering in his sleep. Suddenly, his eyes shot open. He sat up, panting heavily as he scanned his surroundings. His onyx eyes softened slightly upon realizing that there was no danger, and his muscles relaxed.

The boy tossed off his blankets and climbed off his canopied bed. The boy stood, before staring at the gem his Master had left him before his death. The dream had come again. It had kept coming ever since his Master's death. He didn't understand why it kept coming, or why it kept troubling him so.

"How can a nightmare continuously fool me. It's disgraceful," the boy said to nothing. He sighed and grabbed his small red pole, tying it around his shoulder, before walking out the door to see the cut of wood he had dragged home in the dead of night before he had slept. It was not a big deal, he had just planned on cutting it later. But to this boy, it only served to remind him of his failures.

"I hate this!" he yelled, tossing the wood in the air, before kicking it dead in the middle, splitting it into even chunks that fell on the ground around him. _I'm twelve years old! I should be done with this by now! Raditz was finished with his first mission by the time he was four! Yet here I am, no closer to finishing my mission then when I arrived!_ He screamed in his mind. Yet this world was obviously much more dangerous than the one his brother had encountered. That fact was obvious by the fact that he had a minder.

She wasn't around often, at least not since Gohan had died. Whenever she was there, she was always distant, and the most frequent thing he heard from her was, "when are you going to continue your mission, Kakarot?" She refused to teach him anything, and almost never answered his questions either. Whenever she looked at him, she looked sad. He hated it most because he knew she was his mother. All of the stories that Gohan had read him, or had in his collection, portrayed mothers as nurturing figures, not distant figures who were almost never around.

As Kakarot thought on this, he came across the apple tree that he often looted for food whenever he needed it. He grabbed an apple and started eating it. He absentmindedly wondered what he would eat today. It's not like there was much else to do. He didn't really live anymore, he just existed, and went wherever life bored him into. He didn't have a benchmark to see how strong he was, and so he just kept training. It was losing it's luster. _Isn't that funny? A Saiyan getting tired of training._ He tossed the core behind him, laughing all the while. _I really have been here too long._ Suddenly, an orange blur passed in front of his face. Kakarot let go of the branch, letting his tail flip him upside-down as he watched the tiger jump over him.

 _Well, I guess that's my lunch._ He thought, letting go of the branch and dropping to the ground. He drew his power pole off of his back and readied it for the strike. The tiger lunged at him again. Kakarot sidestepped and slammed the pole into the back of the tiger's neck. A _**snap**_ sounded through the air as the beast fell to the ground, unmoving. _So, that's my meat for tonight. A bit lean, but it works._ He grabbed his game and began the walk home.

 **-R &R-**

Kakarot was almost home when he heard a loud whirring sound coming from up the dirt path. He looked in that direction, and saw a dust cloud coming toward him. He tried to move out of the way, but just as he was doing so, a large metal object collided with him, sending him spinning through the air, until he landed face first on the ground.

 **-R &R-**

A girl with braided purple hair poked her head out the car, slightly freaking out. "Oh god, is he dead?!" she screeched. _Brilliant job, Bulma. You go off on a quest to wish for a lifetime supply of strawberries and you end up killing a kid._ She had started her journey in North City and traveled around the Eastern Part of the continent to get here and get the next Dragon Ball, and of course something bad would happen. It's just like Tights warned her, these kinds of quests often end up going bad for one reason or another! But then again, her sister always hung out with that weird alien cop, so it's- Bulma stopped once the boy stood up again.

 _Oh good, he's ooo-gaaaah! What is he doing?!_ The boy extended a red pole and swung at the car, sending it flying into the air before landing on its right side. The boy followed up by continuing to pound away at it with his pole. Not exactly in her right mind, Bulma grabbed her pistol and shoved her head out the broken window, firing as fast as she could at the wild child. The child crashed to the ground on his back before standing up again.

"What the hell was that?!" he screamed.

"You... you shouldn't be alive kid!" Bulma yelled back.

The boy smiled, before holding out his pole in front of him. "Your weapons are useless against my might. Now I shall end your existence right here, monster!"

"Monster?!" she screamed, tossing her gun through the air and waving her arms. Might not have been safe, but she wasn't really thinking right now. "I'm not a monster! I'm a human! Just like you!"

"Human?" he asked, mostly to himself. "But your hair..." he was interrupted by a loud bang. Her gun must have landed and gone off. Bulma sighed and climbed out of her car, landing on the ground.

"See? I'm not a monster, I won't bite." she said. The boy walked up to her and circled her. He stood on her right and lifted up her dress with his pole briefly.

"Shame on you! What do you think you're doing?!" she screamed, slapping away his pole.

"Checking to see if you had a tail. I didn't think you would, but it can't hurt to check," he said, as if it were obvious. She noticed he had exactly that. "My Master told me that if I met a girl that I should be nice, and not kill them."

"Shouldn't that be obvious?" she mumbled, slightly scared. "Is your Master around here?"

"No, he died a long time ago." he said, walking over to her car. "Oh, if you're not a monster, than this is probably a piece of technology used for transportation."

"Um... yeah, we call it a car." she replied deadpan.

"So, does that mean that you're from the big city?" he asked, curious.

"If you mean Orange Star, then no. I'm from West City, on the other side of the world." she replied.

"Great!" he grabbed his tiger by the tail. "Follow me! I'll give you shelter and some food, and we may discuss your city!"

She quickly pulled out her radar and pressed the button. The Dragon Ball was located not too far in front of her, so it was easy to infer that the kid was in possession of it. _If I just follow him, I can easily take my third one. I'll have my lifetime supply of strawberries in no time! I'll show you, sis! I really can do this!_ She followed after the boy.

"So. We're having... tiger for lunch. What's on your agenda?" She asked, continuing to look around at the heavy forest around the path upon which they walked.

"Were you not paying attention? We can eat and discuss various matters. If you wish, you can watch my exercises, I am a bit of a Martial Artist." He explained, sounding incredibly bored, even closing his eyes and slumping when saying it. _Oh right, that reminds me, I need to write Dr. Norimaki to thank him for the assistance in finding out these legends._ The two walked in silence for some time, occasionally having to dodge roots laying around a road that likely hadn't been used in decades.

"Hey, kid. Do you have a name?" Bulma asked. It was always possible that this boy didn't have a name, many children that grew up far from civilization either don't have one or don't remember what theirs was.

"Daikyō Kakarotto, I'm not from this planet." Kakarot replied. "However, you may just call me Kakarot. What's yours?"

"Huh... me?" she asked. He nodded in affirmative. "Bulma." Then she thougth about what he said. "Wait, what was that about you being from another planet."

The boy stopped, as if realizing his mistake. He simply turned around and gave what he probably thought was a menacing stare. "I'm sorry, do you reveal your deepest and darkest secrets to someone that you just met?"

"Um... no," she replied. The boy nodded and continued on the path. The trees began to become fewer and the ground was getting lighter in colour, obviously more traveled upon.

"Nice name, by the way," Kakarot stated in deadpan.

"Hey! Bulma happens to be quite elegant!" _No, it really isn't. I'm named after underwear; there is nothing elegant about that._ "It's certainly better than Kakarot." _That I do mean._ After walking for several more minutes, the forest finally cleared into a beautiful field, with a small house in the middle that almost looked like a shrine. Firewood was neatly stacked off to the side of the door, and otherwise, there seemed to be very little around it. It was... actually rather nice. Out in the wilderness, away from all the hustle-bustle of the big cities... "Nice little house you got there, kid."

"Thanks," he replied, "it was my Master's." He looked at the house as if noticing something was off. "One moment." He dropped the tiger and ran over to the doors of the house, which he thrust inward. He stood there in the doorway, listening. Bulma looked around and saw a nice bed, several books, especially a large one in the middle that looked like it had lost most of the binding.

However, in the middle of the room, her eyes struck gold. Or, rather, orange. For in the middle of the room lay a Dragon Ball. A smile slowly made its way across her face. She quickly ran forward and picked up the Dragon Ball. Quickly examining it, she found it to be the Four-Star Ball.

"Oi!" Kakarot yelled, walking right up to her. "Put my Master's orange jewel back!"

"Orange Jewel?" Bulma asked, perplexed. _Oh, he must mean the Dragon Ball._ However, before she could voice this thought, he had snatched it away. He shot her a look of indignation. Bulma sighed and pulled out her two Dragon Balls from her satchel and placed them on the table. Kakarot looked even more confused than before. Resigning herself, Bulma began to tell him about the Dragon Balls.

* * *

 **A/N: I hope you enjoy this one! Remember to Follow/Favourite and Review! And I'll see you next time on Rhyme and Reason!**

 **EDIT 13 March, 2018: Now edited by Ranma-sensei!**


	2. The Adventure Begins

Somewhere in the world, a door opened, illuminating a dark dungeon, with the armour of the long dead guards acting like torches in the moonlight. Three figures stepped into the room: a black clad woman with dark hair, an anthropomorphic orange dog dressed in a purple ninja outfit, and a short blue skinned imp dressed in a colourful robe and hat. The trio calmly strode forward into the now-illuminated room and up the path leading to the altar in the back... well, mostly calmly.

"Sir... it truly is dark in here. I don't think this place has seen the light in at least the past century." said the dog.

"Quiet, Shu!" snapped the imp as he turned to look at the orange gem sitting on the altar. He carefully walked up the stairs to the altar upon which it sat, before carefully picking it up and walking back to the others. "In any case, that hardly matters now, I'm ready to make my wish!"

The woman cleared her throat. "Emperor Pilaf, sire."

"What is it Mai? I'm kinda in the middle of something here!" Pilaf yelled.

"My apologies, sire, but you can't make a wish with just one Dragon Ball. You need to collect all seven of them." Mai explained.

"You mean... we have to collect more of them?" Pilaf asked.

"Yes. But once they are collected, the Eternal Dragon will come forth for the sole purpose of granting your wish." Mai explained.

"Well, we do have a radar back at the castle. I suppose I can do a bit more searching. Then I will wish to _**RULE THE WORLD!**_ " Pilaf declared. A silent " _of course_ " sigh passed between Mai and Shu, as they followed the short little Emperor out of the room.

* * *

"I see." Kakarot remarked. "That is a very... interesting power." Bulma looked down at him and saw the smile on his face. It was the trademark smile of when someone was about to do something very bad, but it's someting that they will enjoy. "So... you can wish for **anything**?"

It took her a moment to realize that he had asked her a question. "Oh, um, yes." She was suddenly getting a feeling that it had been a terrible idea to come here. Then she saw his smile. _I'm going to die. This kid is going to kill me, take my Dragon Balls, and probably kill a ton of people. This is the worst; I don't wanna die like this! I've never even kissed anyone!_ Her panicked thoughts were interrupted by the very person causing her to panic.

"You can't have it, if that's what you were going to ask." Kakarot said. That snapped Bulma out of her panicked state instantly.

"But... but why not?! You're not exactly going to use it." Bulma asked. _If he doesn't give it to me, I'm gonna have problems..._

"I'm not gonna give you my Master's prized possession just on a whim." Kakarot answered. _Okay, I can understand that, really. It's not like I'd give away a prized heirloom to someone just because they were collecting it. But at the same time... I really need that Dragon Ball._ _But what can I... no, I won't... but I really... ugh! Why do I have such qualms now?!_

Resigning herself, Bulma forced a smile at the boy. "I get it, I know what you want." _Here goes nothing._ She pulled aside a part of her dress and showed part of her underwear to Kakarot. "If you give it to me, I'll let you touch it." _Why did I say that?! Ugh, I'm a genius but I can say the wrong things at the wrong time._

Kakarot just stared, unmoved. "How depraved is this race that they're selling out their bodies for gems of dubious value?" he deadpanned.

 _Dubious value, my ass._ "I spent a good half a year researching these things! Their value is not dubious!" Bulma shouted. _I just finished explaining this to him!_

Kakarot started to retort. "All you told me was a-" but then he suddenly stopped and looked to the door. Bulma looked to the same spot as him, but she saw nothing except dust from the wind. Suddenly, Kakarot shot out the door.

* * *

 _What is she doing here?_ Kakarot thought frantically as he ran into the clearing. She always showed up at the most inconvenient time imaginable. After circling around the back of the house, he looked in all directions to try and spot her. However, the signature had disappeared. Kakarot sighed in relief, hoping it was just a false alarm. He turned on his heel, only to crash directly into the last person he wanted to see.

She just stood there with her arms crossed. She wore battle armour shaped like a dress, and had her tail wrapped tightly around her waist. Her onyx eyes were locked onto his, exact copies staring at each other. After a brief stare-off, she sighed and let her arms down. "Kakarot," she began, "why are you still just here?"

He looked down at the ground. _I'm about to get the standard lecture about how I'm failing, and need to get out there and start working on my mission. I understand that I'm failing, I just wish I had a good way of knowing where to start... wait a second!_ "I was just getting ready to leave." he replied smiling. _Perfect! Bulma may be a bit annoying, but she has provided me with the perfect opportunity to start my mission!_

His mother did a double-take, clearly not expecting that response. "Wait, after all this time, you're actually getting ready to leave?" _Did she really think that I was just going to sit on my hands here forever? I was so incredibly bored that I probably would have left sooner or later, anyway._

"Yep, an earthling came by. She was looking for Gohan's gem. I'm gonna go with her to see this world." he said. Her normally stern face softened, and she even cracked a smile.

"Well, good luck to you, then." she said, before floating off the ground and flying off into the distance. Her calm and happy demeanor had creeped Kakarot out more than anything. If there was one thing that Daikyō Gine Onio was not, it was happy. Despite this, he ran back into the house, where Bulma was still sitting, staring at the door.

"I'm coming with you." he stated. Bulma looked at him carefully, seeming to size him up.

"Why?"

He at least knew the answer to this. "I've lived here my entire life, and never left this mountain. I want to go out and see the world," he took a deep breath before continuing, "besides, there are many predators and other dangerous creatures that live in this area."

"W-What kind of predators?" she stammered.

"Pterodactyls, tigers, and other assorted animals like them. That's not even talking about the many bandits that inhabit the southern part of this region, many of which happen to be beastmen. Frankly, I'm surprised you even made it here at all without encountering any of them." Kakarot explained.

"Um... then do you want to come along as a bodyguard?" she asked.

"I mean, if that's what you want to call me, then sure." he said. "Just let me keep my Dragon Ball, and I'll come with you."

She seemed deep in thought for a few moments. However, after some deliberation, she smiled brightly. "Okay! You can come with me!" she said. He smiled back at her. _Too easy._ _As_ _thanks,_ _I'll kill you last,_ _Bulma._ She jogged out the door and turned around.

"Come on!" she called and waved. _Wow, she is eager to leave immediately._ Kakarot grabbed a small bag to hold his Dragon Ball in, stuffed it in, and tied it to his belt. As he tied his power pole back onto his body, he truly contemplated what he was doing. He was finally leaving this mountain that he'd lived on for ten years, to finally begin the mission that he had been assigned. Yet at the same time... just the fact that it was a change, something new, was something that warmed his cold heart, if only for a moment.

Kakarot walked outside to find Bulma glaring at him. "Well that took you long enough!" she yelled.

"Do you really want to yell at the guy who can break your bones as easily as he can look at them?" he asked deadpan.

"Yeah, yeah. Be as histrionic as you want." she muttered.

"In any case," Kakarot said, "How are we going to find the Dragon Balls anyway? Do you have a way of finding them?"

"Yep!" Bulma said, voice clearly full of pride. She reached into her satchel and pulled out a small device and held it to him. "This is my Dragon Ball Locator. Though, I always just call it my Dragon Radar. I just press this," she pressed the button on the top, "and it shows where all the Dragon Balls are!"

There were, like she had said, seven blips on the radar. _So, one is to the..._ Kakarot looked up at the sky to check direction, _South, and three are to the west, and the rest are right here with us._ "How far away is it and how do we get there?"

She studied the radar while tapping her cheek. "About 1400 kilometers to the south is the nearest one. We can't exactly walk that far." She grabbed out a small case from inside her satchel and began inspecting it.

"So... how do you expect us to get there? I can't fly." Kakarot stated.

"Of course you can't, people can't fly." Bulma said offhandedly, not even looking up. Kakarot silently facepalmed. _Wow._ _This planet is even more of a backwater than I thought. I almost feel bad. Almost._

Bulma pulled out a small capsule from the case, pressing the button on top and tossing it. The capsule exploded into smoke, before revealing a small two-wheeled vehicle where it once was. Kakarot rubbed his eyes to ensure he wasn't seeing things. _Wait... so this race cannot fly,_ _and seems to be one of the weakest in the cosmos;_ _yet they somehow managed to solve_ _either atomic compression or pocket dimensions and store basically anything inside a tiny capsule?!_ _How did-_

"Come on, Kakarot! Hop on behind me!" Bulma called. Kakarot obliged, climbing onto the vehicle behind her and holding on to her. "Hold on!" she yelled as she flexed her wrist, sending the vehicle charging forward. _Huh, this isn't too bad._ _It certainly moves faster than any speed I can run._ Kakarot looked around and saw the trees slowly wearing thin as they exited the forest onto the plains. _Off into the world I go._

* * *

The woman looked down as the vehicle sped away up the dirt road. Despite the fact that she could easily outpace them if she chose to, she remained stationary in the air, watching the bike go. _Kakarot... please find something. I don't care what it is, but find something to love and cherish on this world. Something that will make you not want to destroy it._ _I hope you will forgive me_ _for all this time_ _, my son. I've never been a good warrior; but I know you will be just as great as your father, if not greater._ _Travel, learn to love, get stronger._

* * *

Bulma was absolutely on top of the world. Not only had she gotten a third Dragon Ball with little to no effort, but she had gained a ridiculously strong companion who could act as a bodyguard if things got really bad. And since they were in the sticks, it could easily get that way. He had mentioned bandits, after all. _I really should have asked Dr. Norimaki to let me take his sister along, she_ _beat up those bank robbers while blindfolded. I doubt this kid has anything_ _ **that**_ _spectacular up his non-existant sleeves._ _But then again, he busted up my car, so maybe he co-._ Her thoughts were immediately interrupted as her lack of focus led to her speeding off a hill and flying through the air for a good seven seconds.

"Bulma, you seem to have a severe lack of control over this thing." Kakarot remarked. _This kid is going to be the death of me._ As she finally came to terms with the fact that, yes, she had almost crashed, and yes, she needed to pay more attention, it dawned on her that she really needed to pee. She hopped off the bike and hit the kickstand down.

"Kakarot, mind waiting here for a second? I need to make a pit stop." she said lightly. Kakarot seemed to be staring into the distance behind her, and took a few seconds to respond.

"I'm not sure that's the best idea Bulma, maybe I should-" he started.

"Oh no you don't! You stay right there you little pervert!" she screamed, running off behind the rock.

* * *

Kakarot simply stared at where Bulma had run off too. He had seen the pterodactyl swoop down behind the rock, and tried to warn her, but she thought he was trying to perv on her. _Well, she'll want my help soon. Five, Four, Three, Two, O-._ "KAKAROT! GET OVER HERE!" _And right on cue._ He ran over to the rock. Sure enough, the dinosaur had Bulma wrapped in it's claws. Kakarot sighed, and pulled out his weapon.

"Power Pole, extend!" he called, extending the pole and bringing it down on the dinosaur's neck. The snapping of the creature's neck sounded loud and clear as Bulma fell from the now limp claws. "Power Pole, retract!" The pole retracted to its normal size as he put it away. Bulma just stared at him.

"You... saved me." she said. "Thanks." she added with a smile. Kakarot felt his heart warm a bit. Finally, someone appreciated him and wasn't just trying to change him or push him into something. But at the same time, Kakarot didn't want to show any kind of weakness.

"I didn't do it for you." he said. "If you die, I have no way of finding the Dragon Balls. I can't exactly read the Dragon Radar."

Bulma's smile didn't waver one bit. "Yeah, yeah okay." she replied, clearly not believing him. That was fine with him, she didn't have to. Kakarot simply walked back around the rock to the motorcycle. About 30 seconds later, Bulma came back to the motorcycle, and the two sped off again. This time however, Bulma was glaring at Kakarot noticeably less often.

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks to Ranma-sensei for beta'ing! Follow, Favourite, Review!**


	3. The Turtle and his Hermit

Following the incident with the Pterodactyl, Bulma had proven much more tolerable to travel with. She no longer glared at him for holding onto her too tight, she simply let him know. In addition, she hadn't glared at him much at all since then. Unfortunately, the traveling also made Kakarot incredibly hungry. He had seen several creatures wandering around that seemed edible, but Bulma had consistently told him not to get off the motorcycle. He had obliged, unwilling to be left behind in unfamiliar territory.

When the sun started to go down, Bulma drove the motorcycle into a clearing and hit down the kickstand. She then got off and walked off the road. Kakarot followed suit.

"So, are we going to camp here tonight?" Kakarot asked.

Bulma groaned in response. "I'm a delicate flower, there's no need to live like savages by sleeping on the ground."

Kakarot chose to ignore that vague insult. "Then what do we do? It's not like there are any houses around here," he said.

"Capsules!" Bulma said. She grabbed out her case and popped it open.

"Wait, your capsules even have houses inside them?" Kakarot asked in disbelief.

"Yep! Now back up a bit, I'm gonna put it right over there!" she called. Bulma activated the capsule and tossed it into the field. After a loud pop and smoke, in the place of the capsule was a round white house. "Now that just looks downright cozy. Way better than a tent. Come on Kakarot."

Tentatively, Kakarot followed her into the small house. She pressed a button and the whole room lit up. Kakarot stared around the room, skeptical of what he was seeing. _Artificial lighting? I haven't seen that since... since..._ Kakarot closed his eyes and remembered.

-R&R-

 _The small child looked up from his cot, at the staring faces of those around him in a brightly lit room. Looking down at him were a young lady with shoulder length hair and a boy with waist-length hair._

 _"He looks just like Father and Nini," the boy said. "What's his name?"_

 _"Kakarotto," the woman replied._

 _"Kakarotto," the boy repeated, leaning over the infant. "So he'll be called Kakarot, then. Will he be big enough to spar with, Mother?"_

 _"Of course he will, Raditz. He's just a newborn now. He'll be big enough to spar with sooner than you'll know."_

 _Some time later, the woman had left, and the boy was left with his little brother. He walked to the door and pressed the button next to it, shutting off the light. The moment little Kakarot began to cry, he quickly flicked the light back on. Once the light came back on, the small child giggled. Raditz flicked it on and off a few more times, causing the child to laugh freely and happily. He walked over to the infant and picked him up."It's the job of the elder brother to watch over the younger one." he said to the baby. "I'll have to go on my next mission soon. Once you're old enough, I'll bring you with me, baby brother. You'll learn to fight beside me, just as our father did with our uncles, Kakarot."_

The memory faded with a red planet cracking and exploding, just as it always did in his nightmares. Kakarot was trying his best to hold back his tears. "Nii-san," he sobbed softly. Kakarot hated remembering it. All it served to remind him of was of the harsh reality that he lived in. He was alone, trapped on an alien world. His mother never showed him any affection... the only thing that mattered to her was his mission. He didn't even have a home to even return to once that was done. His father had died with their planet, and his brother was probably dead, too. He had nothing, no one.

"Ew, Kakarot, you smell." Bulma said, snapping him out of his thoughts. "You need to take a bath before dinner."

Kakarot looked up at her in confusion. "What's a bath?" he asked. Bulma promptly did a double take.

"You've got to be kidding me... you don't know what a bath is? That's disgusting!" she yelled.

Bulma sat on a stool in front of the bathtub. Of course, that kid has no idea what a bath is, this is just my luck. "Kakarot, hop into the tub here." she called. The boy looked apprehensive at first, but then did as he was told, hopping over the side and sitting down in the tub. Bulma turned the knob and soaked the small boy down with the shower head, before rubbing some shampoo in his hair.

"Bulma, what's this stuff your rubbing in my hair? It's burning my eyes." Kakarot whined.

"It's called shampoo, it cleans your hair. You should count yourself lucky, you're being washed off by a pretty girl like me. I don't exactly do this for everyone," she said. She sprayed his hair with the water and washed all the shampoo off. "There, much better!" she stated, delighted at her handiwork, since Kakarot's hair was no longer sticking up everywhere. "Turn to the right, Kakarot, I'm gonna scrub off your back for you." He obliged. She scrubbed off the upper part of his back before coming to his tail. She lightly grabbed it and held it up.

"You actually attached this accessory right to your butt?" she asked.

"It's not an accessory," Kakarot replied. To show her, he waved his tail around. _I really should be phased by this... but I've seen far weirder. Wait... I think I saw a woman with a tail working at a bar out in space once! I'll have to ask Tights to confirm, I don't remember that trip very well. Damn it, I wish I had been a bit older for that trip, it would have saved me a bunch of trouble!_ She allowed Kakarot to finish washing himself off, and then washed herself off. Following that, she grabbed some bread and ham out of her little fridge and set it on the table. Kakarot ate, but after it was all gone, he still complained of being hungry.

"Look, kid," she said, "if you're still hungry, then take your extending stick there and go catch yourself something to eat. Just don't get yourself hurt."

Kakarot glanced back at her. "It's called the Power Pole," he said simply, before walking out the door. He didn't come back for about an hour, but he came back stating that he had eaten and felt full. Bulma had been in the restroom brushing her teeth. Once she finished, she laid out a blanket for him to sleep on. Shortly after he'd laid down, Bulma recalled her thoughts on his tail.

"Say, Kakarot," she began."Are there others like you? Like, people with tails?" I really hope he answers me, my curiosity is going to murder me otherwise. He could be anything from an alien to a science experiment gone horribly wrong!

Kakarot's face fell. He turned to her, looking incredibly wistful. It made her feel bad, she thought she was about to make him cry. "There were," he said. Kakarot said nothing else, he simply laid down and turned away from her to sleep. Damn it! That does nothing to satisfy my curiosity! I should have outright asked if he was an alien! That's what I really wanted to know. There was nothing she could do about it now, so she simply closed her eyes and let sleep come.

-R&R-

Gine was happy to finally have a chance to breathe. With Kakarot off on his little adventure, she could stop worrying about him. She also didn't have to try setting an example, and let her tail hang freely behind her. The boy was a mess and easily the hardest challenge she'd ever faced raising, far worse than his brother. _Maybe that's why he's so endearing. Raditz was normal, Kakarot is... I don't quite know, but this planet has influenced him, whether he likes that or not. He might not even recognize that fact, yet. But he will, eventually. That girl seems like she's perfect for keeping a Saiyan under control._

It was at that point that Gine realized that she had no idea which direction the two had gone in. _I don't want to spend too much time looking for them and getting lost... I guess I have to use it._ Reluctantly, Gine pulled her green scouter out of her armour and placed it over her eye. _Glad I removed the long-range communication on this thing years ago._ She pressed the button and scanned around. Within minutes, the Power Levels of 15 and 3 were registered. Gine sighed, relieved that she didn't have to spend days looking for them. But no sooner had her relief come than another power level appeared on the map. _170...290... 450..._ It just kept rising as she watched. _700, 890, 1050!?_ _What... there is no way an Earthling could be that strong!_ Suddenly, the power dropped off. _What the hell could that have been?_ Curiosity getting the better of her, she floated up into the air and flew in the direction of the power level. _I'm likely getting myself into trouble again... I'll never learn, will I?_ She chuckled to herself. At least on this planet, there was no one strong enough to give her any trouble.

-R&R-

The nightmare came again that night, the first time it had ever come twice in a row. But it was somehow even worse than usual. This time, when the fireball hit the surface of his planet, he felt he could hear the screams of his dying race in his mind. Men, women, children... the screams echoing loudly... then a flash of light... and his home and race were gone. But even after the planet exploded, the screams didn't stop.

Kakarot woke up in a cold sweat, barely managing to not scream. He managed to calm himself and slow his breathing in time before he lost it. Losing it now... I don't even want to think about it. His Master had still been alive last time he'd lost control, and it had taken both him and his mother to get Kakarot back under control again. He had created an entire forest clearing in his emotional state that time.

As he got his emotional state under control, he looked over to the futon, where Bulma still lay asleep. _Why did she choose to bring me along? She can't possibly know what I am; to her I'd just be a strange boy with a tail, not a warrior from the stars with a mission to destroy her world. I didn't save her until later... so why did she bring me along? Wait... why did I save her again?_ He thought back to when he broke the pterodactyl's neck. What had his reasoning been for saving her? He didn't even remember. _I hate not understanding, and I hate that I remember all the wrong things!_

He stood up and walked over to the window. Looking out at the clearing, the sun had risen into the sky, and they could likely make good progress in the next day. Yet Bulma was still asleep, as if it were still the dead of night. _Hmm... I wonder what will wake her up quickly._ Suddenly, an idea came to Kakarot. "Bulma!" he called. "The Dragon Balls are gone!"

Instantly, Bulma was out of bed, screaming and rushing over to the table where the Dragon Balls lay, exactly where they had left them the previous night. Seeing them there, she turned and glared at her companion, who was laughing at her expense. "That's not funny, Kakarot!" she yelled.

"No, but your face was," he replied. "In any case, it woke you up, which was my goal. Get dressed, we have a great day ahead of us!" Or at least, that was what he had thought she would do. Instead, she spent an exorbitant amount of time washing her hair with that shampoo, then drying it with some kind of air blower while running a teethed piece of plastic through it.

Exasperated, Kakarot just decided to go outside "Bulma!" he called out. "I'm just going outside. Hurry up! If you move any slower, you're liable to transform into a turtle!"

"Shut up kid!" she shot back. He didn't really care, he just ran out the door. Kakarot stretched, then ran over to a large rock. This one ought to do. He wrapped his arms around the rock and lifted it into the air. Kakarot tried to break it, but it resisted. He grit his teeth and continued squeezing as hard as he could, until the rock finally shattered under his strength. I'm so weak, I can't even break a rock easily. He didn't know why all these feelings had come back after so long of not being there. The feelings had gone away... but now they seemed to be back. He thought as to why they were.

 _"Are there others like you, Kakarot?"_

It was Bulma. She had brought everything that he had been buried deep within him right back to the surface with that single damned question. The memories were bad enough when he wasn't forced to think about them! But instead, she reminded him of the others of his race, and how weak he was compared to them. Eager to force himself to forget, Kakarot ran over the next biggest rock he could see, grabbed it, and lifted it up.

"Woah, Woah!" the rock yelled. _Wait, what? Am I dreaming? Did Bulma knock me out for that joke? No, she's too weak, a punch from her would tickle at worst. So... why did-_ Kakarot looked more closely at the rock in his hands, his previous musings forgotten briefly. Upon closer inspection he realized it wasn't a rock at all: it was a turtle. Sheepishly, Kakarot dropped the turtle.

"That's a new one," the turtle said.

"I'll bet." Kakarot agreed. "What are you doing all the way out here? The river's like seven miles that way." He pointed in the direction that he and Bulma had driven from.

"Before I answer that... could I have some saltwater?"the turtle asked. Kakarot blinked. _A sea turtle? Why would one be this far inland? I need some answers... but first._

"Bulma!" he called. A crash sounded from inside, and about 15 seconds later, she opened the door and poked her head out, her purple hair falling loosely from her shoulders.

"What do you want, Kakarot? I'm almost done with my hair!" she yelled. _What is her obsession with her hair? I think it looks just fine._

Kakarot pointed at the turtle. "I found a turtle, he's asking for some seawater before he'll talk. Could you oblige him? I'd like to hear what he has to say." Bulma glared at him before sighing. The turtle chose that moment to speak up.

"Excuse me, but can I get some seaweed, too?" the turtle asked.

"Sorry, we don't have seaweed," she replied. "But I'll grab some saltwater, one moment." Bulma disappeared into the house, and Kakarot heard the sound of running water, before Bulma came back with a metal bucket. "Here you go." The turtle immediately rushed to the bucket and began guzzling the water. How long has the turtle been out of the water? I'm surprised it hasn't died by now.

"Thank you very much," the turtle said upon finishing his drink. "The truth is... I'm Kame."

"We can see that you are a turtle!" Bulma yelled at him _. Wait, was that Galactic Common? I thought no one spoke that on this backwater! But Bulma seems to have translated it instantly... What is going on with this world?!_

He continued, unfettered. "I was gathering mushrooms, and I got lost. I've been trying to find my way back to the sea for a year now." _A year?! That's... 549 days? No, no, Earth year. 366? About that, yeah._

"You're trying to get to the sea?" Bulma asked. She quickly ran back inside and came back with a map. "Bad news for you, turtle. The sea is 120 kilometers to the south."

"120?! Gosh, that'll take me forever," the turtle said. _South... hmm..._

"We can take you there, Turtle," Kakarot offered.

"You mean it?!" Turtle said, excited. Bulma shot him a look of annoyance.

"Kakarot, we hardly have time for this!" she said. I knew she'd say that. But I think she's forgetting something.

"Isn't the next Dragon Ball in that direction?" Kakarot asked rhetorically. _I know it is. Now to see if she does._ Bulma ran inside again and came back out with the Dragon Radar, checking it carefully.

"Well, whaddya know. It's in that direction, too," Bulma said. "Good catch, kid. I would have missed that." _How the hell did she find any of them on her own?_

"So? Can we head down there, drop the turtle, and grab the Dragon Ball?" Kakarot asked. _I already know she'll say yes. But judging by how she's acted thus far, my phrasing should make it seem like she's the one in control._

"Of course! Let me just get dressed, m'kay?" Bulma said as she walked back inside. She came back out around 10 minutes later dressed in a black jacket, khakis, and riding boots. In her hand she had the Dragon Radar and Kakarot's bag containing the four-star-ball. She had re-braided her hair into the same style it had been the previous day, red ribbon and all. She tossed the bag to him and slid open a panel next to the door. She pressed a button and the house instantly turned back into a capsule. She put the capsule back in her case and unloaded her motorcycle. "Kakarot, you carry the turtle. I don't have any cars that we can use, so I'll just drive next to you. It shouldn't take us very long to get to the shore."

Kakarot nodded and hoisted the turtle up onto his shoulders. _Why is she being so complaisant? She was not like this yesterday._ He continued to contemplate this as they headed along the road, conveniently distracting him from his earlier brooding. The two went across the plains as the day wore on, with little landscape around for them to see.

Bulma complained, much to Kakarot's shock, very little on the trip, and then only about the temperature. To be fair, it was much warmer that day than it was typically. Must be this planet's warm season. Hope it doesn't get too hot. The two continued following the road until it reached a small pass between two cliffs.

"Bulma," Kakarot stated, "this is a textbook example of a trap. I can almost guarantee some kind of bandit will screw with us here." While he said 'almost guarantee,' Kakarot knew that there was someone there. It was such an obvious ambush point. There were probably weapons buried there from armies ambushed in the past. _Maybe not even buried, considering how much of_ _a_ _backwater this world is._

Sure enough, as they entered the pass, a large bear-man thing with a scar over his eye jumped down and landed in front of them. "Oh, that will make a fantastic dinner. Humans give me heartburn, but turtles are a rare delicacy. Hand it over, now!"

"Get off my back, I'll take care of this," Kakarot whispered to Turtle. Turtle nodded and climbed off his back, scampering over to where Bulma had ducked behind a rock. "Who are you to demand anything of me?"

"Kid, you are dead meat! I am the ruler of this land! The dreaded Bear-Thief!" he shouted.

"Oh please, do go on." Kakarot snarked. He drew his power pole out of its case and held it as the Bear-Thief continued his spiel. At the same time, he positioned his tail behind him to use in case he needed to climb the thief's body.

The thief smiled and pointed his sword at Kakarot. He shouted, "the King is far away in his burning castle, he hasn't enforced his rule in this area in a decade! I rule here now. So you should know your place, you damned monkey!"

The moment the final word came out of the thief's mouth, Kakarot's face dropped. He dropped out of his stance and let his Power Pole's front hit the ground. His breathing stilled and his fists tightened, as his body began to shake.

"Aw, what's wrong, little monkey, did I strike a nerve?" the thief taunted. Suddenly, Kakarot looked up at him, rage filling his small eyes.

"SHUT UP!" he screamed, rushing forward. "Power Pole, EXTEND!" Kakarot screamed, swinging it as hard as he could at the thief. It smashed into the side of the thief's head, a resound BOOM shattering through the air. The thief fell to the ground, likely dead, but Kakarot didn't care. He simply picked up the sword and started hacking away at the former thief. "DON'T." smash. "CALL." smash. "ME." smash. "A." smash. "MONKEY!" he jumped in the air and threw the sword as hard as he could at the body. The sword impaled itself in the middle of the largest remaining piece of the body.

Kakarot took a deep breath and looked down at himself. There were a few splatters of blood on his gi, but nothing washing it wouldn't eliminate. _Good. This gi is the only piece of clothing I have with me. I'd rather not walk all the way back to Gohan's just to get another outfit._ Feeling his face, there was no blood on it either, nor was there any in his hair.

He looked back at Bulma and Turtle, only to see them staring at him, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. Bulma in particular looked rather terrified. _I guess now she realizes just who she chose to ask to be her bodyguard. Well, not exactly, I guess. If she actually figures out that I'm a Saiyan... I'll teach her how to blast something with her ki. That should be reward enough in that unlikely scenario._

"Come on, we need to move. I doubt he was the only member of his group if he considered himself the 'King.' How much further is it to the sea, Bulma?" Kakarot asked.

-R&R-

It took a few seconds for Bulma to process the question. The little kid in front of her had just turned a feared bandit into bear-chops, yet here he was asking her how far it was to the ocean like nothing had just happened. What happened to this kid that killing could mean so little to him? _Wait... monkey... didn't Jaco say that he's been trying to hunt down some 'damned monkeys' for like 12 years now? Kakarot is 12... he must be an alien of some kind. Maybe he's what Jaco was looking for._

As these thoughts rushed through her head, she drew her map from her jacket pocket and unfurled it. They were only around five kilometers from the ocean, almost there! Kakarot walked over to her slowly while she was focused on the map. When she put the map down, she saw the boy looking up at her carefully, with an almost worried expression on his face.

"I don't have to go home, right?" he asked. His eyes shone like that of a small child begging for a toy. Bulma sighed. She didn't plan on sending him home, but he didn't need to know that, might as well make him think that she might have. It might encourage him to not be so wanton with the murdering in the future.

"Sure. Just don't go killing people without permission," she replied. Kakarot seemed to think about it for several moments.

"Um... sure," he replied. He picked up Turtle and the two of them began to head up the mountain pass. No further bandits harassed them as they got through the mountains and followed the trail down to the plains. Another hour and they arrived at the dunes at the edge of the water. The Turtle smiled brightly and laughed as he smelled the ocean. Bulma parked her motorcycle and jogged up the sand dunes with Kakarot.

The boy's eyes widened happily as he saw the ocean. He jogged down the hill and let the turtle down onto the sand. Turtle went to the water and turned around to face them.

"You brought me home. Words alone cannot express my gratitude," he said, tears welling up in his eyes. "I insist on giving you a gift, please wait here, I'll return in a short while." Turtle then turned around and swam out into the ocean, out of sight. Bulma sat down in the sand to wait. They had a few more weeks, and they had 3 of the Dragon Balls. _Hmm... maybe strawberries isn't the best plan for a wish... a giant chocolate fountain, maybe? That might be cool._ She looked over at Kakarot only to see him sitting on a rock, drawing in the sand with his 'Power Pole'. He seemed to be writing, but it didn't look like either script commonly used on Earth.

"What are you writing there, Kakarot?" Bulma asked. Kakarot looked up at her and sighed.

"My name," he replied. "This the native script of my people." He dropped the stick to below his previous writing and quickly wrote what she presumed was his name in the logographic script of Earth.

 _根 カカロット_

"I'm assuming," Kakarot continued, "that you can read that one." Indeed, Bulma could read that script, it was the most common script used on Earth. It was like asking if the grass was green. But this reignited Bulma's curiosity regarding Kakarot and where he came from. She figured that he had to be an alien, but getting him to open up about where he was from or why he was on Earth would be difficult. She still remembered how sad he had looked the previous evening when she asked about it. She had to approach that topic carefully if she ever intended to learn about it. She tried to think of what questions could get him to talk without triggering whatever caused his sadness. However, as she contemplated, Kakarot pointed out to the ocean.

"The Turtle's coming back! And he has a person on his back!" he called. Bulma looked out to the ocean, but all she saw was a faint silhouette in the distance. In fact, even saying that was stretching the truth a bit.

"How can you see that far, kid?" she asked. He didn't answer. _Welp, that plan's a bust. Oh well, there are other ones. There is always a blueprint, even when one goes wrong._ As the silhouette approached, she could see it clearer; sure enough, it was Turtle and a bald old man with sunglasses, a bright orange beach shirt, and a long beard. Turtle swam up to the beach and the old man hopped off.

"Good Afternoon!" the old man called.

"Um... hi." Bulma replied. She really didn't know what to say to him, after all she had just met the man. He seemed nice enough, but appearances could be deceiving, as her tiny psychopathic companion showed.

"I have to thank you all for saving my Turtle. He's been missing for a while, and I'm a bit less without him." The man explained. "I'm Roshi, the Turtle Hermit." The old man looked down at Turtle. "Which one of these two youngsters helped you?"

Turtle pointed his flipper at Kakarot. "The little boy here," he said. The Hermit nodded and walked up to the little boy.

"I owe you a debt kid. I have a wonderful present for you, to that end," Roshi said. Kakarot looked up at him, then scratched his head with his tail.

"What kind of present?" he asked. Roshi just stared at him for a moment, as if contemplating something. He seemed to be staring at Kakarot's tail. _Why would he be staring at Kakarot's tail? I mean, yeah, it's weird... but the King of Earth is a blue anthropomorphic cairn terrier. It cannot be any weirder than that._

"Well, just wait and see," he said. He picked up his wooden staff and threw it to the ocean. "Come to me Eternal Phoenix!" he called. The was a very noticeable silence following the call.

Turtle looked up pensively at Roshi. "Um... Master? The Eternal Phoenix died of food poisoning." The staff drooped as the Hermit looked at the turtle.

"Oh right, it did." Everyone promptly face-faulted. _Wait, how did the_ _ **Eternal Phoenix**_ _die of food poisoning?_

The old man stood deep in thought for several long moments, muttering as he did so. "Hmm... I could give him the... no, that's at the cleaners. What about the... hmm... well, if he can use it, it's his." He stood up and called, "Come to me, Flying Nimbus!" Once again, there was silence. Bulma could almost hear the crickets chirping. "Where is that damn cloud?" he muttered. Bulma looked up, and saw a cloud moving a bit different than the others, as it began to grow in size. It grew bigger and bigger, until Bulma realized it was just moving closer to them. The yellow cloud overshot them, then turned around and slowly spiraled around them, coming to a stop next to Roshi. "This is the Flying Nimbus, my Kinto'un. Don't be afraid, she's as sweet as candy."

Kakarot in particular was in awe, staring at the cloud with an expression of wonder. "So, can I eat it, or-"

"You don't eat it, you little... um... boy." Roshi said. "You sit on it and it flies you wherever you want."

Bulma stared at him carefully. "Alright, what's the catch?"Bulma had learned a lesson the hard way, being the heir to the richest man in the world. Nothing comes without a catch, especially something like this.

"You need to have a pure heart to ride on it," Roshi explained. And there it was. "Here, let me show you how it works." He crouched down and jumped onto the cloud. It promptly parted and allowed him to fall on his ass. Kakarot frowned, while Bulma let out a few giggles.

"I guess the wise old hermit isn't so pure himself, huh?" Bulma asked. Kakarot sighed and walked up behind the cloud.

"Whatever. Imma try now," he said. He bounced up and his feet touched the cloud... he managed to stand for a little over a second before falling through it just as Roshi did. Unlike the old man, however, the little boy managed to land on his feet. The boy looked up, frowning. He looked at the Turtle Hermit... and then his eyes brightened a bit. "Hey!" he said pointing at Roshi's chest. "I want that!" Roshi looked down and fiddled with whatever was on his neck.

"You mean this?" he asked. Bulma couldn't see what they were talking about, she figured he saw a crystal or something that he liked.

"Yes. Since all you seem to have otherwise is a cloud that I can't use."

"Sheesh! Don't blame Nimbus for your own impurity. I certainly don't. If you want this, you can have it." Roshi took off his necklace and handed it to Kakarot, who promptly ran over to Bulma to show what he had received. Bulma almost couldn't believe her eyes- in Kakarot's hands was the Three-Star Dragon Ball. Bulma looked back and forth between the Ball and Kakarot, until she smiled brightly and hugged the little boy. He squirmed a bit, but then finally stopped.

"You got us another Dragon Ball, Kakarot! I guess you were right to help the Turtle. That one's yours," Bulma said. She walked over to her motorcycle and capsulized it, before opening another one, this one with a rounded top, modeled after a recumbent bike's top. "Come on, then. It was a pleasure to meet you, Master Roshi!" Kakarot hopped on the bike behind her, putting the Three-Star Ball around his neck. Bulma hit the throttle and they drove off. As they started to drive, Bulma checked the Dragon Radar- their destination was to the Northwest, they could reach it by the end of the week. It's not like anything could go horribly, horribly wrong there, right?

* * *

 **A/N: Apologies for the delay, school work had me bogged down for most of April. But, I'm back now. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Remember to review, follow, and favourite!** **And t** **hanks to Ranma-sensei for editing!**


	4. The Village

The moment their bike arrived in the village, Bulma could tell something was wrong. Despite the village having a sizable number of houses, paved roads, and painted signs, it looked like a ghost town. As if they vanished only days ago. She parked the bike and stepped off, looking around.

"You think that bandits abducted the town or something?" she asked. Her small companion curled his tail behind him as he thought. _That's adorable. He's crazy, but right now I can really tell that he's a kid... it even looks like a question mark!_

"Nah. There're people here." he said. "I saw some shadows moving in that house." Kakarot pointed at the house directly in front of them. Bulma nodded and the two walked forward to the door. She knocked on it lightly.

"Hello? Is anyone home?" Silence. "I know you're in there, I saw you through the window." _Well, no I didn't, but Kakarot did, and his eyesight is far better than mine._ Still, there was nothing. She didn't even hear a rustle of movement inside the house. _I really don't have time for this_. Bulma turned to look at Kakarot. "Can you open it?" He nodded. Kakarot walked up to the door and pulled his hand back for a punch- "Hold on!" Bulma said. She quickly pulled out a capsule and opened it, revealing her Walkman and headphones. She quickly tossed on her headphones and pressed the button on her Walkman, motioning for Kakarot to continue as she bobbed her head along to the music.

 _ **Has he lost his mind?**_

 _ **Can he see or is he blind?**_

 _ **Can he walk at all**_

 _ **Or if he moves will he fall?**_

Bulma looked to see if Kakarot was done yet, but he was just standing there, staring at her. She crossed her arms and looked at him expectantly. Unblinkingly, he pointed his palm at the door... and it began to glow. A few seconds later, the glow shot from Kakarot's hand. It hit the door and blew the handle and part of the frame off the wall. Bulma immediately hit the stop button and put her headphones around her neck.

"What the hell was that?!" she shrieked. Kakarot rolled his eyes.

"The future."

"But what _was_ it?"

"You impress me, and I'll tell you."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" He didn't answer, he simply grabbed the door and pulled it open.

"It means-" Kakarot was interrupted by a loud yell as a man swung an axe at him. Bulma quickly pushed the boy out of the way, but in the aftermath, she felt a sharp pain in her right arm. Looking down, she saw a large gash in her jacket, with blood spurting out. _Well, that's not good._ Nearly instantly, Kakarot had his Power Pole out and pointing at the man. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" he screamed.

The man charged unfettered. The boy sidestepped the next axe swing. "Power Pole, extend!" he called. The Pole hit the man in the stomach, forcing him to his knees. He attempted another swipe at Kakarot, but the boy simply grabbed the man's wrist, before decking him in the face. The man's hands released the axe and went to his nose, which was now bleeding. Kakarot quickly spun, hitting the man in the back of the head with his Power Pole, sending his face directly into the ground. Kakarot retracted his Power Pole and walked over to the man. Picking up the axe, he held it above him.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't end your life for this offense." The man looked up at him worriedly, saying nothing.

"K-Kakarot!" Bulma called. Kakarot quickly turned to see his companion holding up her arm for him to see. Her blue jacket had a slice in the sleeve, and within he could see deep red blood running out from it rapidly, and dripping onto the ground.

"Shit!" Kakarot tossed the axe into the wall and ran to his companion.

-R&R-

Once Kakarot had finally gotten Bulma's wound bandaged, she glared at the man, who was scratching his head, clearly ashamed of himself.

"Where the hell do you get off?! You swung an axe at a little boy, and nearly took my arm off! Since all I have are normal bandages, I'm probably going to have a scar there for the rest of my life! Not only that, but you ruined my jacket!" she screamed.

Kakarot giggled. "You know, all scars tell a story. Telling yours has to interest some people."

"You are not helpful right now, kid!" she turned back to the man. "Now, would you mind explaining why you attacked me after spilling your tea?"

The man shook his arms. "I didn't spill my tea! The demon who keeps kidnapping girls from the village calls himself _Oolong_. He transforms, and I thought you were him!"

 _A shapeshifting demon? That's new._ "If you're fighting a shapeshifting demon, I can help," Kakarot offered.

"But Kakarot-" she began.

"No 'buts,' Bulma. Besides, you need to sit here and rest for a bit, you lost a bunch of blood from that wound."

"You would help us?" an old lady at the door said.

"If I was compensated for it, yes."

"What would you want in payment?" Kakarot grabbed the bag he had tied to his sash and pulled out the Three-Star Dragon Ball, holding it out to the woman.

"We're looking for relics that look like this," he said, pointing at the ball. "There are seven of them, we have four so far. We have a radar that tracks them, and it pointed to this village." The old woman fumbled with her pockets, before pulling out another one.

"This what you lookin' for?" she asked. Bulma moved closer to get a better look. Indeed, it was the Six-Star Dragon Ball. Her enthusiasm returned suddenly.

"Yes! Yes it is! In exchange for that, we'll get rid of Oolong for you!" she stated. The villagers gathered and spoke for a bit before seperating again.

"But even if you manage to defeat Oolong... we still don't know where the other girls he took are," the man with the axe said.

Bulma had seemingly already though this through. "The girl, Pochawampa, was it?"

"Pocawatha."

"Right. If he's looking for you, then he'll be looking for your clothes. Can I have them?" Kakarot giggled at Bulma's request.

"Bulma, no offense to you, but this plan is a bust. You're far too big to wear her clothes," he said. Everyone turned and looked at him. Suddenly, Bulma smiled wickedly. Kakarot's face changed to one of confusion. "What?"

-R&R-

Kakarot had expected her to do something. Something like using Pocawatha as bait. Not dressing him up in the girl's clothes.

"You look absolutely adorable, Kakarot," Bulma said. "Though, your tail is a bit of a dead giveaway." Kakarot sighed, pulling his tail inside the dress, and wrapping it around his waist just like he'd seen his mother do. _It feels a bit... odd... but I could get used to it eventually. Walking is gonna be a challenge, though._

"You're lucky I'm getting a Dragon Ball for this," he muttered.

"Alright! Now you can get taken away by Oolong, beat him up, then come back here!" Bulma cheered. Suddenly, a man with a shotgun ran up to the door.

"He's here! That bastard Oolong is here!" Bulma quickly sprung into action.

"Everyone, hide in your homes! We'll take care of this!" Everyone obliged, shutting themselves inside. Bulma grabbed Kakarot's hand and walked him outside. "Alright, good luck, Kakarot. I'll find you if you don't come back quickly." She turned around and shut the door. _Of course, I'm left to do this. Damn it. I would be mad at her, but no one can heal from an injury that fast. But why do I have to be captured? Couldn't I just beat him first, then beat the information out of him?_ _Or if he's a coward, I could just imply I'll beat him up and he should cave._ Suddenly, Kakarot felt heavy footsteps on the ground. He turned his head and saw a large demon man in some kind of formal attire walking with a bouquet of flowers.

"Hello little lady," he said, "I've come for you." _How to best... I know! I'll quiver and shake! That should imply fear. And explain why I cannot turn around and face him directly._ He began to do just that. "Oh, I'm sorry, are you scared? It must be because of how I look, isn't it? I'll just transform then." A puff of smoke went up around him, and in place of the demon man, there was a human man with the same voice. "I'm actually a very nice guy. Is this okay, or would you prefer a younger man?"

 _I really, really don't like this, I really want to just fight this idiot! Wipe that smug grin off his face. If only Bulma could fight, I would love someone to help me_ _teach these idiots a thing or two. Then again, she is pretty smart, she could catch on pretty quick. Well, I guess I could think that up... while I beat up this wanna be casanova!_ Kakarot elbowed Oolong in the gut. _Damn, that felt good._ He tossed off his disguise and unfurled his tail, kicking Oolong in the stomach and throwing him back.

"You!" Oolong snarled, "you dare deceive me?! Lord Oolong the Terrible?! You're dead meat, kid!" A puff of smoke went up around him with a **pop**. When the smoke cleared, the finely dressed man was gone, and in his place was a large cow. "I'll kill you, kid!"

"Frankly, I think that's..." Kakarot paused for dramatic effect, "...bullshit." Hearing nothing but crickets chirping, Kakarot just sighed. "Fine. Don't laugh." He put his hand out in front of him. "Now tell me where the girls are, or I'll beat it out of you." His face twisted into a wicked smile. "Personally, I'd much prefer the latter, but I'll give you a chance here."

"Oh, cocky one, are you?" Oolong asked. "Well then I guess I'll have to put the m-" he looked at the clock, and his face turned to one of panic. "H-Hold on one minute!" Oolong yelled, running away at full speed. Kakarot stood flabergasted for a few seconds, before coming to his senses and giving chase to the bull. He ran out the gate behind Oolong... and he was gone. The only thing there was a small anthropomorphic pig in a dark green uniform.

Kakarot ran in all directions and couldn't find him anywhere, so he returned to the village gate, before turning around and shouting, "Oolong! Get back here this instant or I'll turn you into steaks when I find you!" Yet nothing appeared. Kakarot frowned, walking back into the town. Suddenly, a **pop** sounded behind him. He turned around, and in front of him was a large suit of armor holding chopsticks and broth.

"You think I'd actually run away, twerp?!" Oolong shouted, "Now surrender or I'll dip you in this broth and eat you!" Kakarot stared at him confused. Then he started laughing. A full, hearty laugh, fully fueled by the fact that this... whatever this thing was... couldn't seem to understand just how outclassed he really was. _Then again, he probably thinks the same. Time to see._

"So, you ever gonna stop just transforming and fight me already? I'm really bored," he complained. Oolong got flustered and shook his hand, scalding his thumb with the hot broth. He screamed in pain, then glared at Kakarot.

"You... you twerp! I'll end you for this! You won't like me when I'm angry!" Oolong shouted.

"Yeah yeah, can we just fight already?"

"Oh, sonova- YES!" Oolong yelled as he threw a punch at Kakarot in his rage. But Kakarot was already out of the way.

"Wow! You're really weak," Kakarot said. Oolong swung his arm angrily at the boy, but he continued to dodge every swing. Every time Oolong came close to hitting him, the boy moved just enough that he missed. Other times, he just caught his arms. Kakarot wasn't even trying, this was very easy for him.

Suddenly, he was just gone. Oolong looked around but couldn't find him anywhere, before suddenly feeling a slight weight increase on his shoulders and neck. "Like, any of these weaklings could beat you with ease. How the hell did you scare anyone?" Oolong growled and grabbed the kid by the tail and threw him into the air. The boy stared down at Oolong with a glare of pure malice.

Then Kakarot cocked his arm back and swung it, shooting a blast of light from it. The ground in front of Oolong exploded from the impact, causing the creature to scream and jump backwards. Kakarot then drew out his Power Pole and extended it to the ground, using it as a recoil. He flew feet first into Oolong's head, smashing into it with a sound like that of a gong.

He dropped to the ground and grabbed Oolong's wrist, holding it in a vice grip. "Now," he said, "tell me where the girls are."

"And if I refuse?" Oolong replied. Kakarot's eyes seemingly lit up.

"Have you ever heard of Beowulf?" Oolong shuddered and began to shake. Just as suddenly tears pooled in the eye slots and water began to gush out.

"Please, don't hurt me anymore! I'll tell you, I'll tell you!" he sputtered. _This guy is pathetic. Oolong the Terrible? More like Oolong the Terri_ _ **fied**_ _._ Kakarot loosened his grip slightly.

"And? I'm waiting."

"They're... They're..." A **pop** sounded and the suit of armour was gone. In its place was the anthropomorphic pig that Kakarot had seen earlier.

"Wait... _you're_ Oolong?" Kakarot asked, dumbfounded. He just couldn't believe that the person terrorizing this town was this tiny thing. Kakarot looked up from Oolong, keeping a tight grip on the pig's wrist. "Hey! I beat Oolong, you can come out now!" Slowly, the villagers and Bulma filed out of the houses and gathered around the two. All were surprised to see that the demon who had terrorized them for so long was a small pig. After everyone finished gawking, Kakarot looked Oolong dead in the eyes.

"You will lead us to the girls. If you turn into an ant and try to escape, I'll crush you. Then, when your broken carcass turns back to normal, I'll chop you up and turn you into bacon." Oolong gulped and nodded. Oolong led them through the plains and off the road a small ways. Within minutes, they reached an elaborate palace. Bulma walked up next to Kakarot and Oolong and looked at the two of them.

"So," she said pointing at Oolong, "what's with the PLA uniform?" Oolong looked at her side-eyed.

"They're easy to find. There are literally millions of them," he replied. The villagers all surged towards the palace and raced inside, calling out for their daughters. However, when they arrived, they found their daughters, one was leaning against the wall staring off, one was in exercise clothes, and the third was sitting on a lounge chair sipping a smoothie. As it turned out, Oolong had wanted a timid girl, or at least one who wasn't so demanding. _I guess you don't always get what you're looking for in life. Oh well. I still want a sidekick, though._ Kakarot sighed. _I just wish there was another Saiyan on this planet that_ _ **isn't**_ _my mother._

* * *

 **A/N: Remember to review, follow, and favourite. And as always, thanks to Ranma-Sensei for editing!**


	5. The Desert Bandit

After several days of slowly traveling west, Gine checked her scouter again, to find that she was only a few hundred units away. She continued travelling slowly, hoping to not alert the creature to her presence. Getting closer, she saw a figure in the sky. She flew up closer until she could get a good view of them. Seeing the figure, Gine felt her heart stop. _What?! But... but how? He... he said they were all dead!_ _No... he wouldn't have lied! Not about this! But... the evidence is right in front of me... why?! Why would he lie to me?!_

Gine floated up behind them, who seemed to be searching for something on the ground. Once she was as close as she dared, she cleared her throat. The figure before her inhaled sharply, and turned around slowly to look at her. Her eyes were wide as saucers, her body seemed to be shaking, and the hair on her tail stood up on end. "Hello, Seripa."

Seripa stared back at her in disbelief. "G-Gine? But... I thought you died when Frieza blew the planet up!" she stammered, but then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "So, you survived. Did... did Bardock-"

"No, he died leading the army against Frieza," Gine said sadly. "He was the only one able to lead the army; King Vegeta made him Lord General for the final attack. I escaped during the battle, with all the info I could download." she admitted.

Seripa stared at her. "How much?"

"The Royal Archives and the clan files, information on PTO forces, patrol routes, all the blueprints available, and the frequency for Code 79." Seripa's eyes brightened.

"That's great news, Gine. Maybe we aren't doomed here, after all." she said, returning her eyes to the ground. "What about your children?"

"I don't know where Raditz is. He's still alive, though. He was off world, and he was in Prince Vegeta's household. He's probably out there with the Prince and Nappa," Gine sighed. "Kakarot, on the other hand, is here on Earth with me. He's off searching for orange orbs with red stars." Suddenly, she recalled something. "Wait, so if you're here, that mean that Surai is, too! Where is she?"

"Surai? She's up in Orange Star City, she lives at an orphanage. I wouldn't bother, though," Seripa frowned. "She hit her head when she was young, and lost her memory. Because of me, she knows her real name is Surai, but she doesn't use it. She uses the earthling name 'Micaela.' She's not in any shape to fulfill her obligation."

"Why haven't you been getting her back in shape, then?" Gine demanded.

"I've had... other concerns," she replied. Seripa pointed down at at the ground, where there were a great many bushes near a forest. "What do you see?"

"A bunch of bushes on the edge of the forest."

"Anything else?"

"Come on Seripa, it's not like you to be philosophical. You were always the no-nonsense chick. I guess that comes from being Second-Class. I was the idealistic engineer that always needed to be bailed out of trouble. What's going on?"

She shushed Gine and pointed back at the bushes. "Look now!" she whispered. Gine looked down... and saw one of the bushes rustling. The bushes continued to rustle, then stopped. Moments after the rustling stopped, a small head poked up from the bushes. The person climbed out of the bushes, holding a handful of berries. They sat down and began eating them. Gine looked back at Seripa and saw a happy smile on her face. Turning quickly back to the person, she focused on them intensely. Looking carefully, Gine realized that it was a small girl, no more than eleven or twelve at most. She had pitch black hair that went partways down her back, though she couldn't tell the girl's eye colour.

"Seripa, who is that?" Gine asked. Seripa looked at her, the smile not leaving her face for an instant.

"My daughter." she replied.

-R&R-

His head flew forward into the back of the seat, and Kakarot awoke from his nap. His sleep wasn't haunted by nightmares, and he was actually a bit happy for it. Or at least, he was until this bumpy trip. Their destination was up the river, so Bulma had used a capsule to conjure up a boat. Of course, she had trouble driving, since she could only use her left arm completely. He also had to make sure she changed her bandage every time she took a dip or something, and had just started keeping the 'First Aid Kit,' as she called it, in his gi pocket.

"Hey, Kakarot!" Bulma called. "We're out of gas, could you use your Power Pole to push us to shore there!" She pointed at a small shoreline with a tree on the waterfront. Kakarot nodded and complied, pushing the boat to shore and tying it up. Standing on the shore, Kakarot assisted Bulma in getting out of the boat. "Well, it's nice to be back on solid ground! Five days on a river is quite annoying!" She reached into her pocket, then her face blanched. _Uh oh._ Bulma suddenly screeched. "My capsules are gone! Damn it, I must have dropped them in the river!"

Kakarot was completely unmoved. "So... we walk." Bulma looked back at him annoyed, then realized he wasn't kidding.

"I'm not accustomed to walking!" Bulma yelled. Despite her protests, the two set off towards the next Dragon Ball. For a while, Bulma walked without complaining... then the grassy plains and forests gave way to a rocky desert with jagged rocks and pillars scattered around. At which point, the complaining went though the roof. Thankfully, Bulma kept walking, and didn't collapse to the ground and start complaining like a spoiled five year old.

After they had walked for several hours, Bulma walked to one of the rocks and sat down in the shade. "I'm gonna rest here for a few minutes," she said, before promptly passing out. Once she was asleep, Kakarot carefully grabbed her right arm and laid it over her chest, to keep her bandage off the ground. He then stood up and walked around the rock and looked out at the vast expanse of land.

"What am I doing?" he asked himself. "I'm supposed to kill everyone on this planet, but here I am helping a female earthling find a bunch of mystical artifacts. I haven't killed anyone since that damned bandit." Kakarot sat down crosslegged and closed his eyes. _Maybe if I meditate on it, I can make some sense out of it._

-R&R-

Standing on a clifftop across the way, Yamcha watched the small boy meditate for several minutes, before smiling and decending to the ground below. This was going to be the easiest job he'd had in years. Uncapsulizing his flying scooter, he hopped on and drove to the boy, his best friend Puar glued to his leg the whole time.

When he got close, he deliberately braked to the side to blow dust in the boy's face. When the dust cleared, a very annoyed child was staring at Yamcha. "Yo," he called to the boy, who simply kept a straight, scowling face.

"Who the hell are you?" the child demanded.

"I'm Yamcha," he replied with a non-chalant shrug."Money. Capsules. Now. " Yamcha turned his scabbard to the boy, hoping to intimidate him.

The boy blinked. "Why?"

Yamcha was dumbstruck at this kid. "Um, I'm robbing you," he explained. The boy's face cleared up, and then he pulled out the pole on his back.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go with 'no'. How about you turn around and run back into whatever hole you crawled out of?"

Yamcha grinned. He loved putting the cocky ones in their place. He tossed his scabbard in the air to distract him, then charged, sword bared.

-R&R-

Kakarot watched Yamcha charge forward, jumping over him at the last minute. He glared down at the bandit, gripping his pole like a bat and swinging it at the side of Yamcha's head. In his panic, Yamcha brought up the sword to block the attack, then swung his one arm back and punched the boy in the stomach. The boy flew back through the air for a few seconds, before twisting himself and landing safely on the ground.

Kakarot took a deep breath, then pointed the end of the pole at Yamcha. "Power Pole, extend!" The pole extended quickly and hit Yamcha in the stomach. The shock caused Yamcha to drop his sword, and Kakarot took advantage of this to send it pinwheeling into the distance with a swing of the Power Pole. Yamcha managed to find his feet again and stand back up facing the boy.

"Kid! Where did you get that pole?" Yamcha asked.

"My Master gave it to me before he died."

Everything clicked into place for Yamcha. "I see. Was his name Son Gohan?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"He was a master of martial arts, on a level that few have ever reached. If you were truly his student, I will consider it an honour to defeat you!" Yamcha got into his stance and pulled back his arm to his breast. He took a deep breath and charged Kakarot.

"Wolf Fang Fist!" he yelled.

"Wolf Fang wha-" Kakarot began, but was interrupted by a kick to the face from Yamcha. This was followed by a combination of punches to his face and a thrust by both of Yamcha's palms, sending Kakarot flying through a bunch of rocks, and burying him under a pile of rubble. Yamcha clapped his hands, revelling in his job well done. He looked down to to his side and picked up the Power Pole, he'd probably be able to sell it for a good price, after all.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. The rubble in the distance began shifting quickly, before being blown away by a flash of purple. The boy stepped out from where the rubble was, his face twisted into one of pure rage. "Alright, you ass. I thought this would be an interesting fight, but you know what? All you did was piss me off. So, now, you can die!" A purple glow began to surround him.

Kakarot was totally bluffing, though. He didn't know how to use this attack properly, and it would probably go horribly wrong. But it still was the only thing he could do now. He focused on gathering his ki in around himself as much as he could. Yamcha was just staring at him, looking absolutely shellshocked. He smiled and released some more energy, then everything suddenly went dark.

The moment the boy passed out, the energy around him exploded in all directions, sending out purple beams that cut through the stone like a hot knife through butter. After several close calls, Yamcha was forced to abandon the Power Pole and retreat on his bike. Thankfully, Puar had retrieved his sword in the mean time. _I will get him!_ Yamcha swore.

-R&R-

When Bulma came to, the landscape had changed. Many of the rocks were now rubble, and... _Oh shit, where's Kakarot?_ She stood up and looked around for her small companion, before spotting him lying on the ground. Bulma raced over to look at him. He was covered in bruises, and had several cuts on his body. She was horrified. Oolong hadn't even put a scratch on him, yet here he was, lying on the ground, looking like he'd just lost a bar fight. _What kind of asshole beats up a small child like this... and who would be strong enough to do so to Kakarot of all people?_

* * *

 **A/N: Remember to Follow, Favourite, and Review. And as always, thanks to Ranma-sensei for editing!**


	6. Confessions of a Lost Soul

It was after dark when Kakarot came to. His head felt terrible, and he was cold. The moon was a shiny halfmoon, illuminating the desert. A few feet to his left, Bulma was sleeping on the ground, using her backpack as a pillow. Kakarot looked around, and saw nothing. No signs of struggle, no charred ground, no roasted husk of Yamcha. He realized that Bulma must have carried him all this way, and since she could only use her left arm... Kakarot suddenly felt himself having more sympathy for the girl than he did even before. With those thoughts in mind, Kakarot sat down crosslegged and put his hands together, closing his eyes to meditate, just as Gohan had taught him.

Kakarot quickly lost track of time, and became lost in his thoughts. The particular one bugging him was his mission. It had always been at the forefront of his mind, he was always acting to try and get it done. Then, when he'd left with Bulma, he'd gotten so much more wrapped up in this. He was almost forgetting his mission at times, enjoying his journey with Bulma, much as he hated to admit it. He tried to tell himself that it didn't matter. He'd use the Dragon Balls to wish for Gohan to come back to life, then they'd settle the score. _Gohan was the strongest on the planet,_ _even that bandit has heard of him! If I can kill him, then I'll know I'm strong enough to finish my mission. Then... then what? At that point, I'd have to activate my pod's beacon, but... would Frieza send forces to pick me up, or kill me? Even if I can beat Gohan, I have no chance of going toe-to-toe with Frieza's forces. Damn this stupid planet and its weak gravity!_

"Kakarot!" he heard a call in the back of his mind. After a bit of confusion, he figured that it was Bulma calling for him. Resigning himself, Kakarot opened his eyes. Sure enough, Bulma was indeed calling him.

He looked at her neutrally. "Yeah, Bulma?" Bulma took off her jacket and tucked it away in her backpack.

"We need to keep moving," she said. "We need to get to the other side of the desert as fast as we can."

"Glad to see you're finally seeing reason, we are on a journey, after all." Kakarot replied, approvingly. Bulma nodded and put on her cap. The two continued walking onward through the desert, with only a brief stop to get some water and prickly pears from a cactus.

Kakarot was extremely surprised that Yamcha never tried to attack them. He thought he had seen him on a ridge a few times, but he was always gone before he could get a good look. Finally, as the sun went down, the two took cover in a cave. Bulma sat down against one of the walls and put on her jacket.

"If someone had told me before this whole journey I would be walking through the desert with a little kid as my company, I would have tried to have them committed," Bulma stated.

-R&R-

From atop a nearby mesa, Yamcha observed the cave entrance. While he'd wanted to steal the damned Power Pole, the fact that this kid had a girl with him made him unable to do so. Yamcha liked girls just fine, but he got far too flustered when around a girl his age, it made him unable to fight very well, which would be a death sentence against the likes of that kid, who nearly destroyed Yamcha's hideout when he fell unconscious. _I don't even want to think of what kind of damage that might have done had he been fully conscious for that entire thing. Forget my hideout, I would probably be a burnt out husk of meat if I took something like one of those beams head on._ Resolving himself, he climbed down from the mesa and snuck close to the cave, only as close as he needed to be to listen to their conversation.

-R&R-

"So, Kakarot," Bulma asked, "Is there anything you enjoy doing?"Even after travelling together for a week, she knew next to nothing about him, besides that he was the last member of whatever race he was, Earthling or otherwise. Ever since his fight with Oolong, she had accepted that the boy was probably an alien refugee of some kind. She'd probably have to ask Tights to look at her _Encyclopedia Galactica_ books if she wanted to find out what race he belonged to, since him telling her was probably not going to happen. Besides, him being from one of the cool races was incredibly unlikely, one of the outcast races was possible... and him being from a PTO planet was just something that wouldn't happen, those guys never left any survivors unless they were useful.

"I enjoy poetry," he replied. "My grandfather was an aspiring poet, he'd gather poetry from anywhere he could find. His personal study was almost like a small library, filled from ceiling to floor with different poems in more languages than I could imagine." Kakarot sounded almost happy when he talked about it. She wanted to keep him talking like this, him being happy would mean he would answer her questions more easily. _Maybe I could catch him off guard... ah hah!_

"Did he translate them into Galactic Common, or did he have people do that for him?" she asked.

"Depends on the poem, some of them he translated himself, some he had others translate, others he simply left in their original form because some things get lost in translation," Kakarot replied simply. Then he blinked and looked at Bulma, almost shocked. "Wait, did you just say Galactic Common?"

"Yes," Bulma replied in 'Galactic Common'. "I do speak it, it's one of two languages spoken here on Earth, it's mostly spoken in the North and East." Kakarot went as white as a sheet. _He probably realizes what he did. I hope he doesn't do anything stupid._ "Are there any from here on Earth that he had?" He didn't answer at first, but after closing his eyes for a second, he opened them again.

"No," he said. "Chikyū, as we called it, wasn't on our radar until very recently." He curled up into a ball, wrapping his tail around his legs. "It's beyond the range of where we typically explored." _This planet is well with_ _in_ _the territory of the Galactic Federation, how would it- oh._

"You're from one of the planets in the Planet Trade Organisation, aren't you?" she replied, with a sad tinge. Kakarot looked up at her, and with his face one of sadness, he nodded. "That's why you said you're there _were_ more of you... the PTO wiped your race out." She crawled over to the boy, tears had started forming in his eyes. "I'm so sorry." She wrapped her arms around him, careful to avoid hurting herself, and he didn't stop her. He simply shook and looked to be trying so hard to not cry.

"Are there any that _you_ like from here on Earth?" she asked with a gentle voice, trying to soothe him. He wrapped his tail around her left arm snugly before replying.

"I like T.S. Elliot's _The Hollow Men._ " he said quietly. Bulma knew that poem, she had been forced to write an essay on it only a few months ago.

"What do you like about it?"

"It just speaks to me. It's definitely the type of thing my grandfather would have kept in a prominent place on his shelves. The way it describes people coming back from war, just mindless husks that look like people. The final line is something I love, for that's how it really is. _This is the way the world ends, Not with a bang but a whimper_ ," Kakarot's voice was starting to cheer up again. "There's also _Do not go Gentle into that Good Night_. I love it, but it saddens me at the same time, because it reminds me of my father, who led our race's last stand."

Bulma understood, even if she couldn't fathom the emotions. His father had likely led a final defense at all cost of their race when the PTO had come for it, for resources or something, like they always do. He probably fought valiantly, then went out in a blaze of glory as he was overwhelmed. "Kakarot..." Bulma thought about what she was going to say for several moments, but in the end, she came to a decision. "When we gather the Dragon Balls, we can wish to bring your race back!"

The boy's head jerked up to look at him, a look of shock completely replacing the melancholy. "Wh-Why?!"

"Letting you have your race back is a far more important idea than a lifetime supply of strawberries." Bulma replied. Kakarot frowned.

"It won't work. We'd need more than one wish," he explained. "It's not just my race that was wiped out. They destroyed my entire planet. All that's there now is a huge asteroid field. We could bring the planet back, but then we'd need to gather them again and wish my race back." Bulma's heart sank. This poor kid had lost his race _and_ his planet. No wonder he was so down, he had no home to return to, at all, except that little shrine in the mountains.

"There have to be some survivors, at least!" Bulma said turning to him. "Once we use the Dragon Balls, we can go to space and look for survivors of your race! I'm pretty sure I saw a woman with a tail at a space station once, so there's at least one." Kakarot gave her a questioning look. "My sister is friends with a member of the Galactic Patrol, she sometimes helps him and she's dragged me along more than once."

"It's fine, Bulma, really," he said. "I've long since accepted their deaths." Kakarot said nothing more and laid down. Before Bulma could really register anything, the boy was asleep. Bulma decided that it was the best idea to follow suit and laid down on her backpack, soon losing herself to the bliss of sleep.

The next morning, Bulma was the first one up. Kakarot was still asleep, and the sun was peaking from just over the horizon. She walked to the entrance of the cave and looked down... to see a capsule with a note tied around it. She withdrew the note and read it:

 _ **For you, with apologies to the boy.**_

The note was probably from the bandit that had tried to beat up Kakarot... _Oh no, did he hear us talking last night? That wouldn't be good... but what's in the capsule?_ Bulma ran back into the cave and woke up Kakarot. Thankfully, the boy woke up quickly. She explained the note and the capsule to him, and he seemed to understand, if embarrassed that someone had overheard him. Bulma turned and threw the capsule through the air and with a **pop** , a red car appeared. She quickly climbed in to find that the keys were already in it. After managing to drag Kakarot into it, Bulma turned the ignition to start the car, and drove off in the direction of the next Dragon Ball, unable to believe her good luck.

-R&R-

Yamcha sat in his own car, watching the the duo drive off. He smiled as he activated the tracker on their car. Once they were safely out of sight, he began following them, making sure to keep out of viewing distance. He would follow them until they got their wish, then he would steal it right out from under them. There was absolutely no way this could possibly go wrong, right?

* * *

 **A/N: Remember to Follow, Favourite, and Review! Thanks to Ranma-Sensei for editing, as always.**


	7. Secret of Frypan Mountain

The desert finally started to clear away. There were no more major rock formations, more trees began to appear, and as they drove on, the ground shifted from sand to dry grass. It had been nearly 5 days since they got the car, and only now was the gas starting to run low. Soon after reaching the dried grass, Bulma found a dirt road that led in the direction they were trying to go. _This is probably the Desert Road that was constructed… the Paozu region_ _has been in anarchy for a decade, since the Ox Kingdom withdrew their troops from the region to deal with civil conflict at home. Hopefully here, we won't encounter any bandits._ The sky was a pleasant orange, and the sun was coming up on the right. Bulma tapped Kakarot's shoulder to wake him up, as had become common practice for the pair. She'd be up early and drive for a time, then wake the boy up once they were moving at a decent enough speed. The boy's eyes opened groggily and he yawned and stretched in his seat.

"You found the road?" he asked. Bulma nodded in response. She handed him the map of the region from her guidebook.

"So, we're going to Frypan Mountain?" Kakarot asked.

"Yep. It's guarded by the Ox King, though, so we need to be careful. We are still in his Kingdom, after all," Bulma cautioned.

"What's your grand plan if we get caught, then?"

"Simple. I stall for time, you grab the ball, and then you blow everything up and we run for it."

Kakarot glared at her. "By 'blow everything up,' do you mean 'try to form a blast and use so much energy that you fall unconscious and it scatters in all directions'?"

"If that's what you did against Yamcha, then yes." Bulma replied. Kakarot seemed to be about to reply, but this was interupted when they reached the top of a hill, and saw a huge mountain on fire.

"Wow! That's amazing!" Kakarot said, in awe.

-R&R-

At the same time, Yamcha's tracker suddenly stopped moving. _I see. They're really serious about going to Frypan Mountain._ "The Sixth Dragon Ball seems to be in the Ox King's Castle," he said.

"But Yamcha, they'll never be able to get it. Between the fire and the Ox King, we might as well just turn around and go home," Puar insisted.

"Hmm... actually, the Kakarot boy might be able to convince the Ox King to hand it over to him. Both the Ox King and Son Gohan were students of the Turtle Hermit, and Kakarot has Son Gohan's Power Pole, proof of their training together. It may be prudent to head up that way, it shouldn't take us all that l-" he began, but was interrupted by a shrill scream.

Yamcha turned to see a young girl in a turquoise gi and a pink obi, gloves, and boots, running away from a dinosaur. _Well, this is still the boo_ _nies. That girl probably does that all the time._ Suddenly, the girl tripped on a rock and faceplanted. The dinosaur caught up and bit into the ground at the girls location, swallowing whole.

Yamcha was stunned into silence. Did he really just watch a little kid get eaten by a dinosaur and do nothing? He was a bandit, and really shouldn't care, but this seemed just... a bridge too far for him. Suddenly, the dinosaur started to whimper. A bright white beam shot out of its head, expanding in size steadily, until the dinosaur fell over, dead. Out of the cauterized wound, the little girl stumbled. She looked around, before running again... right to him. Upon seeing him, she stopped.

"Err-um... hi there," Yamcha said, stuttering. The girl screamed and threw her right hand forward. From her palm a blue beam shot out at Yamcha. He jumped over it, using his momentum to jump the girl and whack her over the head. She immediately fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Well, that was weird," he commented. "Come on, Puar. We should probably head to Frypan Mountain."

"So, Yamcha," Puar said, "Why didn't you get all flustered around her?"

"Really, Puar? I'm not a lolicon, I'd think you'd have more faith in me than that!" Yamcha admonished, starting their car. They drove off up the road towards Frypan.

-R&R-

Crossing her arms, Gine looked pointedly at Seripa as they sat in a tall tree together. "Okay, since I haven't gotten a chance to ask you this yet, _**how did you survive?!**_ " she demanded.

Seripa leaned against the tree trunk and closed her eyes. "I hopped in a pod and flew off once I got Surai from Chief Genmai."

"But... Bardock told me you died on Planet Meat. But here I find you with a little girl on Earth, one that is most assuredly not Surai. Is she-"

"The father is an Earthling. And I was never on Planet Meat. I went with Bardock to Kanassa, then he followed the rest of the squad to Meat, I stayed on Vegeta."

"But... why?"

"I was in the healing chamber. A Kanassan got the drop on Bardock and me during the attack. Honestly, you couldn't have helped even if you had been there. The creature hit Bardock in the neck, then spun through the air and hit me too when I tried to help Bardock. Toma got the creature, but the damage was done," Seripa sighed. "Bardock said something about being able to see the future after that, I never got that. The closest to it is that my daughter claimed she had a dream where I was killed by a tank."

"That would be outright disgraceful. A member of Bardock's Elite Squadron, felled by a simple gunpowder explosive? You'd be laughed out of Hell," Gine giggled.

-R&R-

She hated when this happened. The dreams always started at the worst times. First the numbness, then the visions. Sure, it had decreased in frequency over the last few years, but it still sucked.

She was standing on a planet that looked a lot like Earth, but the sky was a different shade of blue, and there were planets all over the horizon. Looking down at the ground below the plateau she stood upon, there were two figures. One was a small boy in an orange gi with a brown tail wrapped around his waist, his rigid white-blond hair spiked up, and his green eyes seemed filled with anger. His opponent was a pink creature with red eyes, with skin that reminded her of bubblegum, who had its arms raised like it was flexing a muscle.

The pink thing suddenly jumped into the air and dove back down to swing at the boy, creating a giant flash of light, and shaking the entire world. The plateau she was one was pushed upwards, turning it into more of a mountain than a plateau... then again, a plateau was still a plateau, no matter the height. When the light cleared, the two flew in opposite directions from having punched each other.

The creature raised his hands to the sky and a glowing pink ball formed between them and expanded in size. The gold boy charged the creature as it threw the ball. The ball of energy engulfed him, and she thought the fight was over. Suddenly, the boy jumped out of the ball, throwing it behind him and into the air. Ten seconds later, it came back down as a beam, crashing into the ground.

The sky began to redden from the energy... and suddenly, everything went dark. She knew the dream was over. Which was truly a shame, as she was enjoying it.

-R&R-

Appoaching the mountain, Bulma drove them into a desecrated ruin of a town. To Kakarot, it looked like it had been a prosperous town once, but everyone had either fled or died. _Notes for later, attack the towns and cities last, keeps them in an area I can find them._ "Kami," Bulma muttered, "it's so hot. Even hotter than the desert!"

Kakarot picked up a stick and tapped a skeleton's head in boredom. "So," he began, "how do you suggest we get the Dragon Ball?"

"Take your Power Pole and launch yourself over the flames into the castle," Bulma said.

"That sounds like a terrible idea that could very easily backfire."

"I mean, yeah, but do you have any better ideas?"

Kakarot thought about it. No, no he did not. "I better not regret this," he said in resignation. He pointed the pole behind him. "Power Pole, extend!" he called. He rode the pole into the air and over the flames.

He was only flying for a moment before he realized that this was an awful idea. The flames licked his clothing and set parts of it alight, while also burning him... and his tail. He quickly threw the pole in front of him... or at least he hoped he was. "Power Pole, extend!" he called desperately. He flew back through the air and over the nearby hills, landing in a lake. As he hit the water, everything went black.

-R&R-

"K-Kakarot..." Bulma muttered. She had seen the figure fly into the flame and a scream, but nothing more. She began to tremble. She might have just sent the poor boy, one of the last survivors of his race, to his death. Suddenly, an axe impaled itself next to her in the rubble. _WHY THE FUCK IS IT ALWAYS AN AXE?!_ Bulma could at least get solace in the fact that he didn't almost lose a limb this time.

She slowly turned around, and standing before her was a giant of a man. Three metres high, thick, muscular arms like tree trunks, a red cape and a golden helmet. The Ox King had come for her.

"What do you think you're doin' here?!" he demanded.

"J-Just passing through!" Bulma stuttered.

"Are you sure? Because you look a lot like those people who come to steal the treasure from my castle! You're not here to steal them, right?!"

"N-No, we weren't- I mean, I wasn't!"

"Whose we?"

"No one, I swear!"

"You know, I have to put up with liars all day, part of being a King. I. Hate. Liars."

Bulma trembled in fear, wondering why she had sent her main source of defence away. She was really dumb sometimes.

-R&R-

Kakarot opened his eyes to find himself floating on the surface of a small lake. His gi was mostly burnt off on the right, and he had several superficial burns on his body... but surprisingly, nothing too bad. It would all heal quickly, so he was in good shape. Well, except for his singed tail, that would take a few days to heal.

"K-Kakarot!" a scream came from afar. _Well, great. She got caught, what a surprise._

"Power Pole! Extend!" he snapped. The pole pushed him into the air, allowing him to vault back to the town. He dove through the air, landing on the ground right next to Bulma. He glared at the teenager. "Yes, use your Power Pole to launch yourself through the hellfire, I'm sure that'll go well!"

"Yeah... you're right. I'm so sorry, I almost got you killed," she said solemnly. Kakarot relaxed slightly; at least she apologized.

"Just... make sure to plan out your strategies better. Hopefully not getting me killed in the process," he said. Kakarot then turned his eyes to focus on the Ox King. "So... can I have your Dragon Ball?"

The Ox King just tilted his head to the side. "I won't be giving anything to treasure hunters!" He bared his axe and swung it down. Kakarot sighed and bounced backwards, out of the way of the swing. He dodged an onslaught of attacks by the Ox King, each one barely avoiding hitting him, some more than others.

Then, the Ox King swung straight down. With his axe in the ground, Kakarot jumped on his arm and ran up to his head, bringing the Power Pole down upon the big man's neck. It didn't even phase him. "Gah! What are you made of, pure metal?!" The Ox King simply grinned, releasing his axe... and grabbing Kakarot's tail. The pain caused Kakarot to drop the Power Pole and go completely limp. _Well... errors have been made._ The Ox King threw Kakarot as hard as he could into a ruined house.

The boy popped out of the newly created rubble and glared at the big man. "Oi! How did you know about my tail?!" The Ox King crossed his arms.

"If you honestly think that you're the only one of your kind to have come here," the Ox King replied, "think again." Kakarot's face changed from anger to one of deliberation.

"Wait, do you know Surai?" he asked the big guy.

The Ox King shook his head. "No. I've never met her, I have heard about her, though." He reached down and picked up the Power Pole. "This... this is the Power Pole, is it not?"

Kakarot nodded. "Yeah, my Master gave it to me."

"Was your Master named Son Gohan?"

"Yes, he was... why?"

-R&R-

A long winded explanation later, Kakarot sighed loudly. "So, let me get this straight. You and Master Gohan were students of the Turtle Hermit."

"Correct."

"He gave you each a Dragon Ball, and gave Master Gohan the Power Pole."

"Yeahuh."

"And you want me to go and find him so you can use a mystical relic of his to put out the fire around your castle."

"Yes."

"Wonderful. So, what do I get out of this?"

"You get my Dragon Ball."

Kakarot thought on this, before finally coming to a conclusion. "Fine. I'll help you out. Any clues as to how I get back across the desert quickly?"

The Ox King scratched his chin before replying, "Gohan used to use that stick to vault around quickly. Since Master Roshi had his flying cloud, that was the only way that we could find to keep up with him."

"So, you want me to Pole Vault halfway across the continent on a wild goose chase. And then after that I have to find my way back," Kakarot muttered. "Is there _anything else_ you want from me?!"

"Um... I sent my daughter Chi-Chi out a few days ago, since my wife met up with an old friend a few days ago and decided to go and have some 'girl time'. If you find her, I would appreciate it if you brought her back safely," Ox King said.

Kakarot sighed again. "And what does she look like?" The Ox King reached into a pocket and produced a picture of a girl with pitch black hair that went halfway down her body, onyx eyes, and dressed in a dark green gi, with pink gloves and boots, and a pink obi to finish it off.

Bulma peeked her head over Kakarot's shoulder. "Oh wow," she said, "she's a cutie!" Kakarot, despite his confusion about the colours not matching, found himself unable to look away from the picture. There was just something... odd... about this girl, he couldn't quite figure out what it was. At least not from the picture. To prevent himself from sending the wrong picture, he quickly pointed the Power Pole at the ground and extended it, vaulting him into the air towards the East.

-R&R-

The moment Yamcha saw the picture of the girl, he had run back to his car as fast as he could and sped off. _I am dead meat if that girl isn't okay! The Ox King would have me flayed alive above hot coals... not to mention what his wife would do, that woman has even more horror stories surrounding her!_ Thankfully, he arrived and found the girl unconscious, right where he'd left her. Yamcha quickly dismounted and picked her up into his arms and gently shook her.

"Hey... hey wake up," he said softly. Sure enough, she soon stirred, opening her eyes lightly. _Well, at least I didn't kill her. That would have been a difficult one to get out of._ Unfortunately for Yamcha, the moment she saw him, she kicked him in the face and backflipped about 10 feet away from him. "Hey! Don't shoot Chi-Chi! I'm not a bad guy!"

"That's exactly what the last guy said, and all he wanted was my body, as a tool for taking the throne! I'm not falling for it this time!" her hands began to glow again. Yamcha panicked and tried to charge her again, hoping that, by a stroke of good fortune, he could just defeat her and get her to listen. Unfortunately, fortune just happened to fall from the sky in this instance.

-R&R-

Gine stretched her arms out to her sides. "So, how did you become seperated from Surai?" she asked.

Seripa looked down, embarrassed. "I chose a space pod that was a bit screwed up, and when he hit the atmosphere, it went all haywire, Surai fell out of the pod and I was thrown from the pod at full speed. I must have continued flying in the pod quite a while, since Orange Star, where Surai is, is on the other side of the Kingdom."

"So, because you picked a faulty space pod, your mission is screwed eight ways from sunday?"

"Pretty much. I woke up here badly injured, and a man took care of me until I recovered."

"I'm guessing he's the father of your daughter?"

"Your guess is not inaccurate."

"So is that why you're wearing Earthling clothes? It took me a moment to even realize you still had your tail, since you put it through those loops in the trousers."

"They're for belts. Since Earthlings don't have tales, they use leather strips to hold their pants up when then are too loose."

"Well, they obviously never figured out elastic."

"They did... they just started selling it a few years ago."

"Ouch. This place really is a backwater."

"It's not too bad."

"It's not, it's just that the people here have to play catchup. I mean, I've seen exactly one Earthling that can use his ki and none that can fly."

"Members of the Crane School of Martial Arts can fly."

"Is it efficient?"

"No, I've seen street children on Vegeta fly better on their first attempt."

"...that's just sad."

"I know." The two just stared at each other. Gine tried to change the subject.

"So... wanna spar?"

"Sure, just not too much or my mate's going to get a ton of complaints lobbed his way."

"Wait, what did you say your mate's job was, again?"

-R&R-

Kakarot was following his instructions, and pole vaulting his way east until he got back to the Mount Paozu area. As he moved along, he heard yelling in the distance, and looked down to see two figures. _Huh, I wonder what they're arguing about_. As Kakarot paid attention to the figures below, he stopped paying attention to where he was placing his pole... and it collapsed under a loose collection of rocks. Just as fast as he had been going, the boy plummetted toward the ground, and the two figures.

Just in time to pass right in front of Yamcha's Wolf Fang whatever, and a punch to the head sent him into the other figure and across the ground. Kakarot's head was swimming, but he managed to open his eyes... to find himself entangled with a person about his size in a dark green gi. His arm was stuck under their's, and their legs were tanged around his right leg. Kakarot looked up to see a blushing face looked at back at him. _Onyx eyes, black hair, green gi._ "Hi there," he said carefully. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to come crashing into you. Some jackass bandit with a mean punch hit me." He carefully pulled himself off of her and helped her up. "You're Chi-Chi, right?"

"Yes," she replied, still blushing.

"Great. Your dad sent me looking for you, you're going to get the Banshee Fan, right? I was supposed to find the fan and grab you if I could."

"Banshō Fan... and since you know that... I guess you're the real deal, aren't you?"

"Indeed." Kakarot turned his head to face Yamcha. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some unfinished business." He cracked his knuckles and looked at Yamcha. He got into his pose and waited. And waited. And waited. Yamcha still didn't move. Sighing, Kakarot instead charged him. Their fists met with a _**boom**_. Kakarot followed up with an uppercut, which Yamcha swiftly dodged. As Kakarot's face passed near Yamcha's, Kakarot simply smiled, and wrapped his tail around Yamcha's arm. As the bandit was trying to figure out what exactly his tail was, Kakarot pulled himself in and kicked Yamcha as hard as he could in the face, sending him flying backwards.

The bandit felt his mouth, and his cat turned into a mirror to show him something. _Wait, his cat can change form?_ Yamcha's face turned to one of shock, and he screamed, "No! My tooth! You've ruined my perfect face!" He quickly hopped in his car. "This isn't over kid! I'll get you! Eventually!" And with that he sped off.

Kakarot turned around and walked back to where Chi-Chi had watched the brief fight.

"You have a tail," she said shocked.

"Oh gee, I hadn't noticed," Kakarot deadpanned.

"No... it's just that-" Chi-Chi began, but then stopped. She sighed, and loosened her obi slightly. Something curled out from around her waist. Kakarot's face blanched. It was a tail, just like his.

"S-S-" he began, but was interrupted.

"No, I'm not Surai!" she snapped quickly. "My name is Chi-Chi. I'm the Princess of the Ox Kingdom... and a Second-Class Saiyan half-breed."

The colour still hadn't returned to the boy's face. He was just staring, shocked at the girl. _She-She-She-She..._ He focused, trying to come back to his senses. "I'm Daikyō Kakarot, the second son of Clan Chief Daikyō Bardock, Planet Earth's primary infiltration baby. I didn't realize anymore of our kind had come here."

"They didn't really. There's my mother and Surai. I don't care for that apparant part of me. I grew up as an Earthling, and that's what I am." She walked over and picked up the Power Pole from where it lay. "Can we go?" she asked, wrapping her tail back up and covering it with her obi. Kakarot limply nodded and grabbed the pole from her.

"Since I'm real nice, you can hold onto my back while I vault. Should make the gathering weight part easier, anyway." Chi-Chi nodded. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held tightly. Kakarot took a deep breath. _Just my luck. A random girl who I bump into happens to be a half-breed. The universe really must not like me... and she even fights well! Why, why must you do this to me!_ "Power Pole!" Kakarot called. "Extend." The pole shot the pair into the air, giving Kakarot plenty of momentum to fling himself again, and Chi-Chi's extra weight didn't hinder or help him, really. He supposed they balanced out. What bothered him the most was that he didn't really mind her pressed against him. He really should've been telling her to not hold on so tight, but he didn't want to. The fact that he didn't was the part bothering him.

-R&R-

Gine didn't know what to think about what Seripa had told her. "Your mate is King of most of the southern part of the continent? And you are his Queen under an alias?"

Seripa nodded. "Yep. My official name is Selypa Parsnips, the Queen of the Ox Kingdom. And of course, mother of the heir to the throne, Princess Chi-Chi."

Gine cut her hand through the air. "I still find it ridiculously convenient that you somehow landed in a place where a King would find you and you fell in love with him. And you gave him a half-breed heir."

Seripa frowned, "When you call her a half-breed, it sounds like you're insulting her."

"Sorry, I don't know what else to call her though," Gine sighed. "I am surprised that you two only have a daughter, though."

Seripa adopted a sullen face. "It's not by choice. If we could, we'd have a family that made Bardock's seem small." Now that was a bold statement. Bardock had four older brothers and five younger brothers. All but him and the youngest had died in the Seventh Saiyan-Tuffle War, however.

"But," Seripa continued, "giving birth to Chi-Chi took a lot out of me. I don't know why, but I haven't been able to have a child since." Her face actually looked sad now. "Maybe it was the fact that the Earthlings have shorter gestational periods, she was larger than a normal baby."

Gine's heart sank. "I'm sorry for-"

"No, it's fine." Seripa quickly interrupted. "It doesn't bother me as much as it used to. It's not like I can just bury the past like some people said."

Gine nodded in solidarity. "They're wrong, I've learned, in what they say about the past. About how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out." She shook her head. "I can barely even look at my son without being reminded of my mate. It's started to fade, but it's still there."

"Don't worry, Geen," she said, using her old nickname. "You'll be just fine."

"I hope so, Sera," she replied. "I hope so."

-R&R-

After several hours of continuous pole vaulting, Kakarot finally arrived at the sea and hung just above the waterline. "Well, isn't this just great." Kakarot complained. "We're here in the middle of the sea, and no sign of the Turtle Hermit."

"Can't we ask for directions, Kakarot?" Chi-Chi asked quietly.

"Who are we going to ask out here?" he asked in reply. Chi-Chi pointed down at the water where a dolphin was looking up at them. "Huh, good eye," he said to Chi-Chi. "Where's Master Roshi?" he asked the dolphin.

"Oh, Master Roshi? He's over there!" the dolphin said, pointing with his fin.

"Thank you. When I cleanse this planet, you will be spared," he replied.

"Wait, you'll destroy the planet?" Dolphin replied.

"Um, yeah I just said that. Is that a problem?"

"No, not really. Well, when you do so, could you give the humans a message for me?"

"Sure, what?"

The dolphin lifted its fin as if it were waving. "So long, and thanks for all the fish!" Kakarot nodded, before leaning back and continuing to vault along.

"I've never seen a fish like that before." Chi-Chi noted.

"By the way it was above the water, I think it was a mammal, actually." Kakarot corrected. The two continued on for another 15 minutes, before they spotted a small island. As they got closer, Kakarot spotted a small house and a few palm trees on its sand beaches, but the house took up the vast majority of the island's land area.

"Ah! That must be it, Kakarot!" Chi-Chi cheered, pointing at it.

"No, really? I couldn't tell. Whatever gave you that impression." Kakarot asked sardonically.

"Well, amazingly enough, it does say 'Kame House' in big red letters on the side," she snarked back. _Wow, nice one. Maybe this one isn't_ _ **completely**_ _hopeless._

Kakarot used one last fling and landed safely on the shore of the island. Chi-Chi let go and stumbled around for second before finding her footing. _Why does she not use her tail to balance herself like any normal Saiyan?_ He turned his attention to the person who had just walked in front of him.

"Well, now. If it isn't the little boy I gave my Dragon Ball to. What brings you here?" Roshi asked.

"Wait... this is the great Master Roshi?" Chi-Chi asked.

"I know, right? I was surprised to find out that he was so great, too. He just looks like an old geezer," Kakarot said.

"You know kid, you might want to be a bit nicer," Roshi muttered. "I see you've done just fine without my flying cloud." Kakarot just stared at him. The silence was thick enough that a butcher's knife would shatter against it. "So, what happened to the girl there? Last I saw her she was taller, had nicer hair, and actually had breasts."

Kakarot just sighed. "That was Bulma. This is Chi-Chi. Now, I've had a very long day and I've been flinging myself around with the Power Pole for several hours, I'm not in the mood for any games."

In the background, Chi-Chi muttered, "I'll have them when I grow up, pervert."

"Listen, Chi-Chi here is the Ox King's daughter. He sent me here in the hopes that you could put out the fire on his mountain," Kakarot explained.

"The Ox King, eh? I haven't heard from him in a very long time. Unlike Gohan he never kept in much contact with me. I always tried to explain-"

-R&R-

As Roshi went off on his rant, Chi-Chi tapped Kakarot's tail with her index finger, knowing it would get his attention.

"What?" he asked.

Chi-Chi shushed him, then whispered, "Are you sure this is really Roshi?"

"Who else could it be? I doubt anyone else would just have a defective cloud floating around," Kakarot replied. _I guess he has a point there._ "Alright! Enough, we get it, The Ox King never writes. Now can we please explain why we're here?" _I still don't believe it's him... I'll give him a little test._ Chi-Chi reached into her gi and pulled out a kunai from a hidden pocket. _If he can dodge this, then I'll believe it's Roshi._ She threw the kunai as hard as she could. Roshi stood stock still before quickly bringing up his staff to block it. Unfortunately, being made of wood, the kunai passed right through it and embedded itself in the man's skull.

"Oh dear..." Turtle, who had been observing the whole thing, said. Kakarot's face was first one of shock, then he burst out laughing. He kept laughing until he fell over, and even then he was still laughing. Eventually, the laughter brought tears to his eyes, and he was forced to stop, but he still kept making giggling noises at the poor man's suffering.

Eventually, Roshi pulled himself back to his feet, but the boy was still cackling like the Mad Hatter. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up kid."

"I-I'm totally not sorry," Kakarot said, trying to catch his breath, "but how did an old geezer like you survive that?"

"You little runt! I'll have you know I'm one of the strongest people in the world!" Roshi yelled. He grabbed the kunai and yanked it out with ease. _Okay, I guess he is Roshi._ Suddenly, a very wicked smile came across Roshi's lips. "Hey, little girl. How would you like a gift in exchange for coming all this way to see your father's old teacher?" Chi-Chi perked up. _I swear, if it's another one of those crappy courtship gifts, I'll throw the kunai again, this time for his throat. I'm sure Kakarot would enjoy watching his blood splat- wait, where did that come from? I don't want to kill him!_

"What kind of gift?" she replied, holding her voice steady. The old man looked over at Kakarot and smiled even brighter.

"Oh, you'll see," the mirth was evident in Roshi's voice. He turned out to the water and pointed the remains of his staff outwards. "Come to me, Flying Nimbus!" There was a pregnant silence as the wind blew across the island.

"I see your theatrics skills haven't improved much, either," Kakarot remarked. In the distance a yellow cloud moved through the sky. "Just a friendly word of advice, you might want to try stretching 'Niiiiiiiiiiiiimbuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuus'. Then, by the time you finish, the cloud might actually be moving."

The cloud circled the island and arrived in front of them. "This is the Flying Nimbus. If you sit on her, you can fly around anywhere," Roshi introduced. "If you can ride on her, she's all yours." Chi-Chi looked at it in askance. _This looks more like a giant piece of cotton candy. Yum, Cotton Candy, I'd love some of that right now!_ She shook her head and bounced into the air, landing firmly on the cloud.

"Huh?" she asked out loud. Suddenly, she realized that she had done it. She bounced up in the air. "Yay! I got it! I got a free cloud!"

"Interesting, so I guess it does work," Kakarot muttered. Chi-Chi laughed and pointed to the sky.

"Soar!" she called. And the Flying Nimbus did just that, flying through the air and doing sommersaults.

-R&R-

"Alright, kid," Roshi said. "What are you actually here for?"

Kakarot shrugged nonchalantly. "I already told you, the Ox King sent us here hoping that you'd have a way to put out the fire on Frypan Mountain. He told us to ask you for the Banshee- sorry, Banshō- Fan."

Roshi sighed. "Well, the Banshō Fan would certainly do the job. I just worry it's too dangerous for you kids to use."

"Oh really? Why's that?"

"It's very powerful. One swing and it gets very windy. Two and it'll start a thunderstorm. Three will literally cause a typhoon to form around you. I've never tried four, but I imagine it wouldn't turn out very well."

That was fine with Kakarot, he didn't plan on swinging it more than twice. Swinging it alot could easily complete his mission... but where was the fun in that? He wanted to experience the thrill of the fight as he went about his mission.

Kakarot sighed. "That's fine, I was only going to swing it twice at most." He looked up and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Hey! Chi-Chi!" he called. The yellow cloud did one more circle around the isle and came to a stop right next to them.

"This cloud is amazing!" she cheered. Kakarot shook his head and laughed a bit. This girl was incorrigible.

"I'm sure it is. Turtle guy said we could borrow the fan," Kakarot said. Chi-Chi pumped her arms in the air and flew the nimbus around in short circles.

"Hurray!" she cheered, "we can finally put out the fire and go home!" Kakarot smiled and looked at the hermit. _Your move, old man. You can either agree with me and I get what I want, or you deny me and break the poor girl's heart._ In the end, the old man sighed and shook his head, going inside.

-R&R-

After waiting for some time, Master Roshi had still not found the Banshō fan, even after ransacking his house.

"Turtle!" he called. "Where did I leave the Banshō Fan?"

"You were using it as a placemat, you stored the aloe vera plants on it." Turtle replied.

Roshi's head fell. "Oh dear," he said, "that was the Banshō Fan? I spilled some wine on it and threw it out."

Kakarot sighed. Chi-Chi felt herself wanting to cry. If the Banshō Fan was gone, that meant she could never go home. And Kakarot wouldn't get his artifact... no one would be happy with that result. "Are you _absolutely sure_ you're the Turtle Hermit?" Kakarot piped up.

"Of course I am! Who do you take me for?!" Roshi yelled.

"It's just that Master Gohan was far less forgetful, and he was really old!" Kakarot explained.

"I- you know I can't... really argue with that one. You could still be nicer about it, though," Roshi said. _Yeah..._ _Master Roshi's right,_ _he really could use some lessons in being nice._ _Oh well, he's still young. He has time to learn_ _before he gets thrust into the spotlight. If he wasn't so rude he'd be dreamy._ "Alrighty, then!" Roshi declared. "If the Banshō Fan is nowhere to be found, I'll just go and put out the fire myself!" Roshi then turned and went deeper into his house. _How will he put out the fire on his own?_

The Turtle Hermit was gone for around ten minutes, before stepping out, dressed in a fine orange shirt and dark pants.

"Was the change of clothes really necessary?" Kakarot asked.

"Of course! I gotta look sharp for such an occasion," Roshi replied. Kakarot sighed and looked up at Chi-Chi.

"Um... Chi-Chi." He looked almost nervous as he spoke. "Since I gave you a ride here... could I... could you... give me a ride back on the Flying Nimbus? My arms kinda hurt." Chi-Chi's heart skipped a beat for a second. Had this boy really just asked her for something... and so **politely?**

"Um... sure," she replied. She reached down and held open her hand. Kakarot hesitated, then took it and climbed onto the cloud. To Chi-Chi's surprise, as he held onto her, the cloud accepted him. Or at least, he didn't fall through it. Chi-Chi looked down at the Turtle Hermit. "Master Roshi! Would you like a ride?"

Roshi smiled back. "No thanks, kid. I've got my own." He pointed his new staff to the air. "Come to me, Baby Gamera!" Out of the sky, a large rock-like shell spun down and landed at Roshi's feet. Out of the shell, appeared a turtle-thing. _Oh, so it is literally a baby Gamera._ "I need you to spin me over to Frypan Mountain. You know where that is?"

"Of course I do," Baby Gamera replied.

"I'll meet you two there!" Roshi called. Baby Gamera began spinning rapidly and flying through the air. Chi-Chi willed the cloud forward and they sped off across the ocean.

-R&R-

Bulma dug through the rubble of the village by the Ox King's Castle, hoping to find a capsule, or at least something interesting. After some digging, all she managed to find was an old accoustic guitar, of the such that her 'friends' back at high school would play. If she could even call them friends. She was only going back to school for senior year out of boredom. _If I'd known then that I would enjoy this trip so much, I might have just graduated, taken the diploma, and come out here._ She didn't have any friends, she had people who tried to get close to her for her money. Being the child of the richest man in the world was both a blessing and a curse. Sure, she could get whatever she wanted, but no one liked for her being her. They liked her for her money. She could guarantee, if she ever lost that money, all her so-called 'friends' would vanish faster than antimatter in open air. After sifting through and finding nothing of note, she resigned herself, picked up the guitar, and walked back over to the Ox King.

"Anything you like?" she offered, unable to think of anything better to say. The Ox King looked down at the guitar and nodded.

"Het Geluid van Stilte. Know of it?" Ox King asked. Bulma nodded. She did know the song. Why he knew the name of it in a long dead language she could only guess. Bulma sighed and sat down on the rock behind her. _Guess those music classes will give me_ _ **something**_ _._ Entertaining a King was definitely not where she saw herself in the future. She wasn't a princess, what kind of royalty would have any interest in her?

After tuning the strings, the began the classic strum. "English version, right?" The King nodded. She watched her fingers carefully and took a deep breath.

" _Hello Darkness, my old friend._

 _I've come to talk with you again._ "

-R&R-

Yamcha had been nearly asleep when he heard the guitar. After nearly losing a tooth to the crazy monkey boy, he decided that maybe sneaking and spying wasn't so bad after all, and hid in the outskirts of the ruined village outside Frypan Mountain. The monkey boy would inevitably return here, so he could continue following them without risking an actual beating, rather than just a lost tooth and a tactical retreat.

Suddenly, he heard a guitar behind strummed. He peaked up over the rubble, and saw Bulma sitting on a rock, plucking a guitar with her fingers, and singing. She looked like an angel, singing with the fire behind her, her purple hair resting on her shoulders as she did so. Yamcha found himself unable to look away, nor wanting to. He'd seen the girl with the monkey boy often, but never up close like this, by herself. Well, not counting the massive King sitting in front of her.

" _And the sign said 'The words of the prophets_

 _are written on the subway walls_

 _and tenement halls.'_

 _and whispered in the sounds... of silence._ "

She finished the song on the guitar before taking a deep breath. As the song finished, Yamcha heard the sound of something rushing through the air. He quickly ducked back into cover as he saw a yellow cloud fly over his head and come to a stop in front of the Ox King.

-R&R-

"To answer your question, girl," Ox King said, "I have some old literature from when that language was spoken, so I used it for fun." Bulma reeled back. "I can tell, girl. Everyone gets that look when I say things like that."

"PAPA!" a voice called, as a yellow cloud flew past and stopped in front of the Ox King's face. "Look! Master Roshi gave me his Flying Nimbus!" Bulma stood and looked closer at the voice. It was a small girl with pitch black hair, dressed in a dark green gi with a pink obi, gloves, and boots. Kakarot was holding onto the girl with his eyes shut. _Wait, how is he riding on the cloud?_ "Kakarot!" the girl called, "You can let go now!" Kakarot opened his eyes, looked around briefly nodded, and did so. The moment he did, he fell right through the cloud and landed on the ground, on his feet.

Bulma giggled. "Kakarot, I thought you were a monkey boy, not a cat." The boy's eyes twitched as she said that. The girl on the cloud looked down at her. _Oh, that must be Chi-Chi, the Ox King's daughter._

"Don't say that, 'monkey' is a derogatory term for people of his race. I know you didn't mean anything by it, but just keep it in mind," she said. _Wait, how come he told_ _ **her**_ _that? He never told me that, even when he was talking before... and he couldn't have met this girl before today. What has she got that I haven't that he's willing to trust her just like that?! Wait... why do I care?_

"What?! The Banshō Fan is ruined?!" The Ox King yelled, snapping Bulma out of her thoughts.

"Yep. But Master Roshi said he would come here himself to put out the fire," Chi-Chi replied. She turned her head around and pointed at a smudge in the sky. As it got closer, Bulma could see something spinning amazingly fast through the air, coming to a stop above them.

Immediately, the Turtle Hermit fell from the spinning thing and landed on the ground. After spinning around dizzily, he steadied himself on his staff. "That's the only problem with Baby Gamera," he said, "It makes you real dizzy."

The Ox King ran over and prostrated himself right in front of the old man. Unfortunately, the force of his body hitting the ground caused the old man to lose his balance and fall over. Roshi immediately picked himself back up. "I've heard the stories about you, you big Ox!" he chastised, "A demon who kills anyone who comes near his castle, who openly consorts with vampires and other such demons?!"

"To be fair, Master," Ox King replied, "those were all thieves I killed. The Vampire story is just one my wife spreads. Selypa is very proud of that one. They've done their jobs at keeping bandits away."

"Oh quit it, you won't need to spread those legends anymore after today, you can go back to just being King of this nice land," Roshi said.

"Yes Master, thank you Master!" Ox King replied. Bulma was shocked by this display. This huge man who looked as if he could tear dinosaurs in half with brute strength was supplicating to an old man, who seemed to have not eaten in weeks.

"Seriously, do you not recall any of our training? I thought I told both you and Gohan to practice! If you had listened, you could do this yourself!" The old man threw off his turtle shell, and it landed on the ground with a loud **SLAM**. He unbuttoned his shirt next and laid it atop the turtle shell, before climbing on top of a piece of rubble right in front of the mountain. He cracked his neck and flexed his arms. With a loud grunt of effort, his thin arms suddenly bulged into full muscular arms of a bodybuilder on a magazine. Taking a loud deep breath, the Turtle Hermit flexed his torso, and it followed suit, ripping right into shape.

"W-Well, that's not something you see everyday," Bulma stuttered. The man extended his right arm forward and took a deep breath, his body clearly shaking from the effort. As soon as his hand was extended, a blue glow travelled up his arm and enveloped the Hermit's entire body.

-R&R-

Yamcha watched the Turtle Hermit with a keen interest, as any martial arts fan rightfully would. The Turtle Hermit, Master Roshi, was a legend amongst the Martial Arts community, his Turtle School one of the most exclusive in the world, with a reputation for training some of the best Martial Artists ever, with only the Crane School being able to compete.

"Yamcha?" Puar asked, "What is the Turtle Hermit doing?"

"If I were to guess," he replied, "he's using his signature move... to think I would ever get to see it with my own eyes, I can barely believe it."

-R&R-

As the blue glow subsided partially, the old man rotated his hands in a circle, before cupping them in front of him. "Ka... Me..." he said, moving his cupped hands to his side. "Ha... Me..." he continued. A blue ball began to form in his hands. "HA!" Roshi yelled, thrusting his cupped hands forward. A blue beam shot from his hands into the fire, creating a blinding flash and causing the ground to shake, knocking everyone over.

When the flash subsided, Kakarot stood up to look around. Indeed, the fire was gone... and so was the entire mountain. Roshi was sitting on the same piece of rubble as before, his muscles returned to normal.

"Wow..." Kakarot said, in awe of the display of power. "I-I don't... " he looked at the Hermit pensively. "I apologize for doubting you, you are clearly the strongest warrior on the planet," he said with a light bow. _This is humiliating, I should be smarter than this._

Roshi nodded to him, before walking up to the Ox King and Chi-Chi. "Sorry for blowing up your castle."

Chi-Chi shook her head at him. "It's fine, we can always build another one, right Papa?"

"Right! You know Master, you should really come and stay with us, it's far safer over here," Ox King said.

Roshi shook his head at his former student. "I honestly prefer living alone, just restore order to the Paozu region and it'll be just as safe as here."

Meanwhile, Kakarot was eying the car and his own hands. _The way he gathered his ki... if I focus it in my hands..._ Kakarot cupped his hands at his side. _Now... the words..._ "Ka... Me... Ha... Me... Ha!" he yelled. Almost immediately, a blue ball formed in front of his hands and a beam shot from it into the car.

Kakarot felt his entire body shaking from the effort, but he managed to find his footing and smile. "I did it." He looked back to see Roshi, Chi-Chi, and the Ox King staring at him, dumbfounded.

"H-How did you-" Roshi stuttered, "i-it took me fifty years to create that technique! How could you use it so easily?"

"He's Gohan's student, Master," Ox King interjected. Roshi seemed to relax a bit.

"I know that, Ox King. Gohan wrote to me, telling me of a small child with a tail that he took in, along with a woman with a tail who came by. Gohan thought she was his mother, but she always flew away, like one of Shen's students." Roshi remarked.

"Chi-Chi!" Kakarot called. "It's not too hard! Just focus your ki into your hands while cupped, and say it as you force it forward." It wasn't that he was ignoring Roshi, it was just that he didn't have an answer for him. The girl looked at him, then cupped her hands at her side. "Kamehameha!" she yelled, thrusting her arms forward. As Kakarot had done before, a small blue beam shot from her hands and sent the car flying across the rubble and out of sight. The girl stumbled and fell backwards from the force, but otherwise seemed fine.

Roshi was absolutely speechless. He took a deep breath and looked at the two kids. "You know, while the boy may have some attitude problems, you two both have incredible potential. Why don't you two come by my island? I haven't taken on any new students recently, I could train you two personally."

Kakarot smiled lightly. "Once I'm done with my quest, I might just take you up on that." Chi-Chi ran up to him.

"Quest? Of what kind? You didn't explain this to me before, Kakarot!" she said, sounding... excited?

"Oh, um..." Kakarot grabbed the bag off his obi and withdrew the Four-Star Ball. "Bulma and I are seeking out the seven Dragon Balls. When they're all gathered together, they call forth the Eternal Dragon, who will grant you a single wish. That's why we came by here, since the sixth one is here. I have two, Bulma has three. I guess that'll be four once she finds the one in the ruins." He looked over to the ruins where Bulma probably was digging for the Dragon Ball. Chi-Chi nodded and ran back to her father, climbing up on his shoulder and whispering something in his ear.

Suddenly, Bulma walked up next to him, holding the next Dragon Ball, looking at the nearby wreckage of their car. "WHO THE HELL WRECKED OUR CAR?!" she screamed. Kakarot limply raised his hand, as did Chi-Chi in the distance. She glared at both of them, before turning to Kakarot specifically. "Great. Now how are we going to continue. I don't want to walk anymore!"

The Ox King stepped forward. "If you two need a car, I can provide you with one. It's the least I can do."

Kakarot smiled up at the big man. "You would? Thanks. I don't know what I would do if I had to listen to her complain about it walking all over again." The Ox King smiled and pulled a capsule out of his pocket. He tossed it into the air, and when it opened, it revealed a green, open topped hovercar. _Now that's more like it._ After a few more whispers into the Ox King's ear, Chi-Chi hopped down onto the ground. Kakarot climbed into the car with Bulma.

"Kakarot! Hold on a second." Chi-Chi called. He looked back at her as she ran up to the car.

"What is it, Chi-Chi?" he asked. She simply got a sly smile on her face, before quickly swiping the Dragon Ball from Bulma.

"What the hell!?" Bulma screamed. Chi-Chi tucked the Dragon Ball into a pocket in her gi.

"The Dragon Ball is rightfully mine. If you want the wish," she looked at them pointedly, "you'll have to let me come along, too." Kakarot sighed.

"You know you could have just asked, right? Just get in the car." The girl suddenly got a beaming smile on her face and bounced into the back seat beside Kakarot.

"Alright! Off on the adventure we go!" Chi-Chi called. Bulma sighed and hit the gas before anything else could go wrong. Kakarot and Chi-Chi both waved behind them at the two figures as they got smaller in the distance.

"I don't see why you wanted to come, we only have one more Dragon Ball to find, and that's the One-Star Ball. There's not much to see in that regard." Bulma said to Chi-Chi.

-R&R-

After changing vehicles to a quieter one, Yamcha followed along the group closer than before, since his tracker was now fried, but he was easily keeping pace. There was only one left now, from what the girl had said. It wouldn't be long now, he would get his wish from the Dragon Balls, and there was nothing that could stand in his way now.

* * *

 **A/N: Let me know how much you enjoyed the twist this chapter in the reviews. Of course, remember to follow and favourite to. And, as always, thanks to Ranma-sensei, my awesome beta reader.**


	8. The Quiet Town

Following the sun, Bulma drove the car west as fast as she could. They were so close to finishing the journey! There was only one Dragon Ball left. Unfortunately, in order to get the Seven-Star Ball, she had to bring the Princess of Frypan Mountain with her. Chi-Chi wasn't a bad kid from what she'd seen. In fact, it was probably the opposite since she owned the Flying Nimbus and could fly on it.

It was more that she'd strongarmed Bulma into bringing her along, and she didn't really bring much to the table. Chi-Chi was strong and rich. Kakarot was strong, and Bulma was already rich. They didn't need her- but Kakarot had made his opinion very clear that he wanted her to come along. _I think he has a crush or something. That has to be it. There is no other reason why he would be acting this way towards her._

They stopped next to a small river for the night, and made camp. While Kakarot went out to hunt and make food, Bulma decided to wash herself off in the river. It was cold, but she got used to it, like a pool. While she didn't have soap to clean herself completely, she was at least able to get most of the dirt and grime off of her skin. While sitting in the water, she looked carefully at the wound on her arm. It had mostly scabbed over, but there were still some open parts that didn't bleed but could easily get infected.

Suddenly, Bulma heard a splash. Looking quickly in the direction of the noise, Bulma saw a small head poke out of the water. It was just Chi-Chi, probably having the same idea as her.

Noticing her, Chi-Chi swam up to Bulma. "I'm sorry for forcing you to let me come with you, I just didn't think you'd let me if I asked. Please forgive me!" she begged.

Bulma's mind completely blanked. She just didn't know what to say to her. A literal _Princess_ just came up to her and begged for her forgiveness. Not only that, but from what Bulma could tell, Chi-Chi had no idea who she was, so as far the girl knew, Bulma was just a normal teenager. She sighed and smiled at Chi-Chi.

"You don't need to worry, Chi-Chi. You can accompany us, I don't mind." she lied. She really didn't want the girl to come along, but she was so innocent... Bulma didn't want to break her heart. Chi-Chi seemed to fall for it.

"Thanks, Bulma," she replied.

"Bulma! Chi-Chi! I made dinner!" a voice called out. The two of them quickly climbed out of the water and put their clothes on. As Chi-Chi put her gi on, Bulma saw something on her. _Wait... is that..._ As Chi-Chi ran over to the fire, Bulma grabbed her shoulder.

"You have a tail?!" Bulma demanded. Chi-Chi gulped and blushed. "Kakarot is an alien, so I can understand him having one, but how do you?! Are you adopted or something, from the same race as him?" Kakarot was suddenly standing next to the two of them.

"Chi-Chi's mother is of the same race as me. Her father is the Ox King. She's a hybrid," Kakarot answered swiftly. Bulma's eyes widened at the revelation. _So... that's why he wanted her to come along. He thought his entire race was dead, and then there's this girl. He must be loathe to part from her... the only member of his race he knows._

Chi-Chi whined. "I'm the Princess of the Ox Kingdom, I was born and raised on Earth, and my father is an Earthling. I don't want to be called a hybrid. I'm just an Earthling. Calling me hybrid like that sounds like you're talking down to me."

Kakarot looked at her side-eyed. "That's what you called yourself when you introduced yourself."

"No, I said I was half-Earthling. That's the half I want to be identified as. I don't know anything about my other half's culture, history, or anything else, and I don't care to," Chi-Chi clarified.

"That makes no sense, you should embrace the entirety of who you are!" Bulma said.

"There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Bulma, than are dreamt of in your philosophy," Chi-Chi recited.

"Hamlet, Act One, Scene Five," Kakarot noted. "So, what you're saying is that it's more complicated than she makes it out to be?" Chi-Chi nodded. Bulma chose not to pursue it any further, sitting down to eat in silence.

 **-R &R-**

After Bulma fell asleep, Chi-Chi walked over to where Kakarot sat on a small log, poking at the firepit with his pole, trying to extinguish the last embers. She sat next to him on the log. After an awkward moment of silence, she spoke.

"She doesn't know, does she?" Chi-Chi asked. _If she did know, she'd understand why I hide it._

Kakarot shook his head. "No, she doesn't, and I plan to keep it that way. She told me that her sister is friends with someone from the Galactic Patrol. I fear she may reveal us by accident."

"The Galactic Patrol?" Chi-Chi asked, eyebrow raised. _Now there's a group I haven't heard of._

"The main enforcement arm of the North Galactic Federation. Earth lies in their territory, and Saiyans are _**personae non gratae**_ to them." He looked directly into her eyes. "It matters not if you are entirely Saiyan like me, or only partially, like you. If they see us, they will try to kill us upon recognition."

"But... but why? We're small children!" Chi-Chi protested.

"We're dangerous to them. We're the reason they lost so much land to the Planet Trade Organisation. We infiltrate other human worlds, we massacre the population, then the planets are sold to a PTO ally to make colonies and harvest resources. Saiyans were always given a nice percentage of the sale of the worlds they conquered." Kakarot said.

"That's terrible!" she squealed. "How could you do that?"

Kakarot pointed to his head and tapped his temple with his index finger. "They train us in our spaceships. We're taught what we need to do, and that's it." He put his arms back down. "That's why I'm here. I'm supposed to kill everyone on this planet, then signal the PTO to come and grab me, and they'll sell this planet for profit."

"But you won't... will you?" Chi-Chi asked. _If he does, I'll stop him. I don't know if I can, but I'll try!_

"It doesn't really matter. I'm too weak to even take on your dad, let alone the Turtle Hermit at full strength. I can't complete my mission in this state, so you needn't worry. I couldn't do it even if I tried," he said. Kakarot hopped off the log and laid down in the grass.

"Lay down and sleep. We have a long day tomorrow." After the boy closed his eyes, Chi-Chi layed down and followed suit, letting her exhaustion in as sleep consumed her.

 **-R &R-**

Kakarot, meanwhile, continued to lie awake even as the girl fell asleep. _I'm not strong enough. I need to get stronger... I don't want to kill either of them... but I might have to. Damn it, what do I do?!_ He took a deep breath to steady himself. _I need to speak to my mother, she'll know what to do... after we find the last Dragon Ball, of course. Can't exactly leave now, can I?_ He closed his eyes and let sleep take him.

 **-R &R-**

Bulma awoke the next morning slowly. The sun was still low in the east as she sat up and stretched, letting out a gentle yawn as she did so. A gentle breeze blew her hair out of her face as she stood up. The two alien children were still asleep on the ground; Kakarot with his tail curled around him protectively, and Chi-Chi a few feet away in a similar pose, but her tail hidden by her obi.

Bulma pulled her map out of her bag to see their location. _Okay, so we're not far away from the border of the Ox Kingdom. Just across the border there's a decent sized town... I could probably buy some capsules there. Should take us about an hour to get there._

Plan set, Bulma cupped her hands around her mouth. "Kakarot! Chi-Chi! Wake up, it's time to go!" The two children were up within a minute, though both were yawning still. "We're about to cross the border out of the Ox Kingdom. Chi-Chi, be careful and don't say who you are, someone might want to hurt you out of revenge or something." The girl nodded crisply. "Kakarot, don't attack anyone. If they attack you, feel free to break their pride." The boy nodded, visibly reluctant.

Bulma smiled and climbed in the car, starting it. The children climbed in the back behind her, and they drove off up the road.

 **-R &R-**

Sipping from his canteen, Yamcha watched the two through his telescope. He started his car and kept pace with them. "Those fools. They don't even notice me following them. Getting my wish is going to be child's play."

Puar floated up next to him. "What is your wish, anyway? Unlimited money? An invisibility cloak? A girlfriend?"

Yamcha put his hand to his chin and thought. "I don't really know, Puar. A girlfriend might not be so bad, but that seems like a waste of a wish. I doubt we'd ever be able to get the Dragon Balls again, and that Kakabrat might beat me up even worse than before."

"Well, we need to think of one quickly, they only have one Dragon Ball left to find," Puar noted.

 **-R &R-**

As the sun was nearing its apex, Bulma drove the car into the small town she'd seen on the map. It had a small gas station, and several shops, but didn't seem to have any running water. She parked the car next to one of the gas pumps and waved down the attendant.

"Mind filling up my car?" she asked kindly.

"Um, sure," he replied, a tinge of fear in his voice.

Bulma smiled and grabbed her backpack. "I'm going to go shopping, watch the car, guys!" Kakarot and Chi-Chi just looked at her unamused.

 **-R &R-**

Chi-Chi looked over at the attendant as he filled up the car. "Hey!" she called, "do you guys get many visitors?"

The attendant shook his head. "No, no one comes here anymore. Shame, really. The market in the middle of town used to have goods from all over." The gas pump clicked and the attendent pulled it out of the car, hanging it back up.

Chi-Chi put on her best angelic smile. "The girl with the purple hair has our money. Would you mind waiting for her, pretty please?" The man quivered under her innocent eyes.

"Sure, sure, just don't take too long. The cost is 4,239 zeni." _Meh, not terrible._ Chi-Chi hopped out of the car and leaned against the side. Kakarot leaned out of the car next to her.

"There's something odd about this town. I can't put my finger on it," Kakarot muttered. As Chi-Chi opened her mouth to reply, Bulma came jogging back over with a bag in hand.

"Hey guys, I got us a bunch of stuff, and I even got us a house capsule, fully stocked!" she cheered.

Kakarot sighed. "How much did you spend, Bulma?"

"523,621.35 zeni. I checked," she replied nonchalantly. As Bulma and Kakarot began to talk behind her, Chi-Chi decided to walk around a bit, waving behind her to let them know she was walking off. She looked up one of the roads and just walked up it calmly.

 **-R &R-**

Looking up the road, there were stalls holding fruits lining it. Kakarot had desperately wanted to walk up and try some, but Bulma told him not to, and instead had given him a sandwich she'd bought on her way back from the capsule store.

"It's a shame. Capsules are going out of stock everywhere, now," Bulma said, sadly.

"Is there a reason for that?" Kakarot asked.

"Yeah, Commander Red wants to monopolize production for his army." After seeing Kakarot's confused face, she added, "Commander Red is the leader of the Red Ribbon Army, a large paramilitary group that controls most of the world west of here. The company that makes capsules is headquartered in West City, which is under their control. He ordered them to stop selling abroad completely at the end of this fiscal year. They've already scaled it down by 68%. They'll only continue to get rarer and rarer."

"Where are you from, Bulma?" Kakarot asked, suddenly curious.

She sighed. "West City."

"So, you know about them first hand." Kakarot looked up at her. "If you ever-" he was interrupted by a loud crash. He turned to look and saw a big guy with goggles and... rabbit ears smashing the apple stand. Seeing the rabbit ears immediately made Kakarot lose any respect he may have had for them. He could barely even take them seriously. "Well, those guys look like idiots, what with those dumb ears," he remarked dryly.

The rabbit guy grabbed a civilian by the collar, yelled at him, then punched him into the wall of the closest house, before turning to see the two of them. He walked over to them with his hands in his pockets and perhaps the smarmiest smile that Kakarot had seen.

"My, my, my. Now isn't that a gem. How would you like to spend time with a real man, pretty lady?" he said. _Wow. And Bulma says I'm overly dramatic._

"Why," Bulma asked, "have you seen one?" The rabbit guy flushed and sputtered.

"Wow, that may be the closest thing to injury you've done to anyone on this trip," Kakarot remarked. Bulma winked at him and gave him an 'okay' sign with her right hand with a smirk.

The rabbit guy growled and grabbed his weapon off his back. "Alright, bitch, I was trying to be nice. Now you're going to follow me or I'll make your life a very short-" Kakarot didn't even wait for the guy to finish talking. He grabbed his Power Pole and extended it into the guy's gut, knocking the wind out of him, and causing him to drop his rifle.

"Huh," Bulma said, looking at the rifle, "Kalashnikov Automatic Rifle, 1947 Model, who would've guessed." Kakarot didn't even bother replying. A faint sound was reaching his ears. He looked in the direction it was coming from and held his pole over his head. "Stay here," he said to Bulma, before running and vaulting over the next few houses with his pole. As he flew over the houses, he saw what he'd heard- Chi-Chi was standing there whimpering as some other guy -with the same weapon the first one possessed- shot at her. Of course, all the bullets were bouncing off her arms, but it probably still hurt.

Not hesitating for a second, Kakarot extended his Power Pole and swung it as hard as he could at the man's neck. With a _**BOOM**_ it impacted the side of the man's head, and his head snapped to the left with a resounding _**SNAP**_. Even if that hadn't snapped his neck, a fatal brain hemorrhage would have finished the job there.

He landed right next to Chi-Chi and smiled at her lightly. "You good?" he asked. She crossed her arms.

"I was doing just fine. I was waiting for him to run out of ammo, then I was going to hit him," she said. From behind her, a small boy in a headscarf poked his head out, before running into an alley behind the now-dead man.

"Well, that was fun. Now I guess I-" Something suddenly hit Kakarot in the head... and it really hurt. He turned in the direction it came from and saw another rabbit guy lying prone on the ground with a longer gun, including some kind of vision assister on top of it. The rabbit guy fired again, this time Kakarot backhanded the bullet, sending it into a nearby wall. It still stung, but not as much as before.

"Any ideas on how to deal with this guy?" Kakarot called.

"Just one!" Chi-Chi replied, cupping her hands at her side. "Kamehameha!" The blue and white beam shot from her hands and engulfed the prone man in light. The man screamed for several seconds, but it soon ceased. When the beam subsided, the man had been burnt beyond recognition, even the rabbit ears had been disintegrated.

"Well, I guess roasted rabbit is on the menu tonight, huh?" Kakarot remarked. Chi-Chi just looked pale, her eyes were wide, and her breathing had slowed.

"D-did I just kill him?" she stuttered. Kakarot sighed.

"Yeah, and I just hit that other guy so hard in the head his neck snapped. It's not a big deal, these guys are terrible people, anyway, they're terrorising the town."

"Yeah... yeah, you're right. They deserved to die, it shouldn't bother me. I'm the Princess, I'll have to preside over these one day, anyway," Chi-Chi replied meekly. She took a deep breath, and opened her eyes, refocused. "Let's continue, then."

* * *

 **A/N: Follow, Favourite, and _Review_! And as always, thanks to my awesome beta reader, Ranma-sensei!**


	9. The Mad Rabbits

Of course, everything went wrong almost immediately. Chi-Chi had been leisurely strolling up the road and looking at the various stalls in the old market in the middle of town, when a red pickup truck had sped by her and a bunch of guys in goggles and bunny ears dismounted, armed with AK-47s. They spread out, going in all different directions. Worried, Chi-Chi chose to double back towards Bulma and Kakarot, running down a side road to avoid the sights of the guys with guns.

Coming around a corner, she immediately tucked back behind it when she saw another rabbit man running up the road. She poked her head out to get a better look, and saw him yelling at a young woman, a small boy hiding behind her.

"I'm so sorry!" the young woman yelled, bowing before the man. The man held his pistol in one hand pointing into the air. _Hope he shoots himself in his idiocy, that is not how you hold a weapon._ Not even noticing the homicidal thoughts had crept in again, she continued focusing on the two.

The man looked down at the young woman prostrated before him. "Bitch, you know the penalty for interrupting a Rabbit's official duties, do you not?!" he barked.

"He's just a child, he doesn't know any better! Please!" she begged. The man looked down at her with a malicious grin.

"Alright, bitch." He grabbed the young woman's chin and lifted it to look at his face. "You'll just have to _convince_ me." With that, he grabbed the woman's arm and pushed her into an alley on the side of the road, malicious grin never leaving his face. Chi-Chi knew she should have intervened, gone to help the young woman... but she had frozen up, and been unable to move. _How_ _disgraceful,_ the voice inside her said. _Y_ _ou lock up when you see someone being threatened in such a way even when you know you should help them? You'd be a disgrace even as a low-class Saiyan, let alone Second Class! How dare you speak with a Saiyan child from a Clan as noble as the_ _Daiky_ _ō_ _when you disgrace your race like this?!_

 _SHUT UP!_ Chi-Chi screamed in her mind. _I'm not a Saiyan, I'm an Earthling! I can't disgrace a race I'm not part of!_ She could never be one of them. She **would** never be one of them.

 _Your tail says different_ _ly_ _. You're an Earthling from your father, and a Saiyan from your_ _m_ _other._ She continued to deny it, but the voice kept it up. Looking back at the road, the man emerged from the alley, a satisfied smirk taking up his visible face. He simply shook his head, and leveled the pistol at the small boy. Finally, her legs unlocked. In an instant she had run to the man and slapped the pistol out of his hand, sending it flying into the distance. The man just looked back and forth from his hand to the air, while Chi-Chi took the distraction as an opportunity to push the child across the road and further from the bad guy.

Just as they started to move, however, the man came to his senses and slung the rifle off his shoulder. "Alright, you got a lucky hit in, girly," his malicious grin returned, "but now you get to face the firing squad for this!" Frozen in fear once again, she held up her arms in defence as she heard the gunfire. The bullets hit her arms... it stung, but they didn't go through her arms like she'd seen it do to animals. They simply hit and bounced off, like someone was throwing stones at her. Her eyes glued shut, her only thoughts were making sure the small child wasn't hurt.

Suddenly, a loud _**BOOM**_ sounded through the air, followed by a _**SNAP**_ , and the gunfire stopped. Chi-Chi opened her eyes and saw Kakarot standing there, smiling at her lightly.

"You good?" he asked. _Aw, man, I don't wanna be the damsel in distress! Those are fine in children's stories, but not real life! What do I say... um... um..._

She crossed her arms, a slightly painful thing, and in her best sure-of-herself-voice said, "I was doing just fine. I was waiting for him to run out of ammo, then I was going to hit him." Immediately following her saying that, the small child ran out from behind her and around the man who was now lying on the ground into the alley to the young woman, who was curled up sobbing in the fetal position.

"Well, that was fun. Now I guess I-" Kakarot began to say, but was interrupted by a loud _**CRACK**_ and something hitting him in the head. Chi-Chi turned to look in the direction it came from and saw another man in a rabbit hat lying prone on the ground with a sniper rifle. _How much money do these guys have that they can have all these weapons? Maybe Dad should take control of this area, too, just to keep these poor people safe._ Meanwhile, as shot after shot rang out, Kakarot slapped the bullets away into the walls of the nearby buildings. _Alright, yeah, this needs to end... but should I do it? Yeah, probably._

"Any ideas on how to deal with this guy?" Kakarot called to her, snapping Chi-Chi out of her thoughts.

"Just one!" Chi-Chi replied, cupping her hands at her side. _Let's hope this works as well as I remember it!_ "Kamehameha!" The blue and white beam shot from her hands and engulfed the man in light. The man's screams rang out for several seconds, but soon ceased completely. When the beam subsided, the man was burnt beyond any form of recognition, even the rabbit ears had disintegrated.

Seeing what she had just done, Chi-Chi felt sick, and her heart seemed to almost stop. Kakarot said something, but it didn't register in her mind, and she felt the blood drain from her face."D-did I just kill him?" she finally managed to stutter out. Kakarot sighed, presumably at her.

"Yeah, and I just hit that other guy so hard in the head his neck snapped. It's not a big deal, these guys are terrible people, anyway, they're terrorising the town," he replied. _Wait... he_ _ **killed**_ _that guy?! Yeah... yeah I guess he did... he's right, these people would be executed if they were arrested anyway,_ _they deserve to die... and if we didn't kill them, they'd killed us._

"Yeah, yeah you're right," she said, "They deserved to die, it shouldn't bother me. I'm the Princess, I'll have to preside over these one day, anyway."She took a deep breath. _They deserve to die. They deserve to die._ "Let's continue." Kakarot smiled at her and made a gun figure with his first three fingers. He pointed it up the street, before firing a yellow blast of ki from them. It impacted a rabbit guy's head, sending him to the ground as a pool of blood formed underneath him.

"I'm at two," he said cheerily. _Wait, does he seriously want to make this into a competition?_ Before she could ask, however, he'd already started running up the street, and not wanting to lose him, she ran up the road after him. Coming across another lone wolf, Kakarot whacked a guy in the head with his Power Pole, while Chi-Chi punched the dazed man in the nose, caving in the bone and killing him instantly. While she stumbled a bit at the realisation, it didn't cause her to stop this time.

Coming across a third guy, Chi-Chi took the initiative and charged him head on, punching him in the throat and caving it in. In doing so, however, she forgot to judge the force she was using, and fell head-over-heels onto the ground from her sudden loss of speed. After sitting up, she heard clapping from behind her. Turning around, Kakarot was clapping with an impressed expression on his face.

"Well done," he said, "though your balance could use a bit of work there." He nodded to her and held out his hand to her. She took it and he pulled her to her feet. _How can he be so calm in this situation?_ "I believe you're at three," he added. _He really does want to make this into some kind of game!_

"Peoples' lives are not something to make a game out of!" Chi-Chi protested. Kakarot chuckled.

"Considering these scum to be 'people' is one of the reasons Earth has fallen so behind," he stated coldly. Before Chi-Chi could open her mouth to reply, the voice spoke to her again. _He's not entirely wrong._ _We_ _Saiyans got stronger when we stopped tolerating people like this at all._

 _You know,_ Chi-Chi thought to the voice, _I find it weird that you're this chatty now, but when I met him you were nowhere to be found._

 _That's because that stupid bandit whacked you over the head and severed my ability to talk to you. And before you try it, it was because it was unexpected._

 _Anything that would shut you up permanently?_

 _...your death?_

She didn't even respond after that and tried to shut the voice out. After he (the voice said it was a he) stopped interjecting something in her mind all the time or sending visions of the future, she thought maybe he was gone for good. But nope, he was barely gone for a day. Finally focusing on Kakarot again, a thought suddenly crossed her mind.

"Where's Bulma?" she asked. His head suddenly jerked up and he turned around.

"Oh no," he said, terrified. His hand shot out, Power Pole in hand. "Extend!" he called, shooting straight up 20 feet. However, he didn't vault. He just... hung there. Then he laughed. A full, hearty laugh that any child would give when they were entertained.

She couldn't take it anymore. "Oi! What's going on over there?!" she called. Kakarot immediately slid back down the pole and retracted it. He giggled again.

"It's nothing. I don't think we need to worry about-" he began. Unfortunately, he was interrupted by the loud crack of gunfire in the distance. That was followed by a shrill scream and more gunshots. Another gunshot was followed by their purple-haired companion faceplanting from around the corner, sending another shot firing at Kakarot's hand, which he deflected into the face of another rabbit.

Bulma immediately bounced up and scrambled over to them. "Well, how nice of you to wait for me, only you left me all on my own to fend for myself! Everything's going to hell, I almost died, AND I'M FREAKING THE FUCK OUT!"

Kakarot placed his hand on her arm. "Bulma, how many people have you killed?"

She blinked and looked down at the little Saiyan. "Six. Why?"

"Well, seven, counting the guy who you just shot when you fell... but yeah, you've killed more people today than Chi-Chi and I combined. Congrats!" he shot out his hand in a thumbs up while maintaining a huge grin on his face. Bulma blinked, then all the colour drained from her face, and she promptly turned and threw up all over the ground.

"I killed more people than the crazy kid? That's got to be a new low!" she screamed. Kakarot just giggled in response. He quickly swiped Bulma's gun from her hand and shot behind him. Quickly turning, she heard a loud cry of pain as another rabbit fell to his knees. Kakarot handed the gun back to Bulma and walked over to the injured man.

The injured man quickly pulled out a heavy mobile phone and extended the antenna. "Boss!" he screamed into it, "Come into town, quick! We need you! They came out of nowhere! This girl, she cheats with-" Kakarot ended the man's speech by shooting a blast at the phone and blowing it up, badly mangling the man's hand in the process. He pushed the man over and held him down.

-R&R-

"Now then," Kakarot said, with all the malice he could muster, "why don't you talk to us for a bit. Who are you and why are you ruining this small town?"

"Who the fuck do you think you are, kid?" the rabbit growled back. Kakarot responded by pressing down on his bullet wound. The rabbit screamed in pain for a solid ten seconds before Kakarot let up.

"Wrong answer. Let's try that again," he repeated.

"Go to Hell, kid!"

"Don't threaten me with a good time," Kakarot said as he applied pressure again. After listening to the screams for who knows how long, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Bulma looking at him, shaking her head. He sighed and let the pressure off. "Talk, before I turn the pain back on until you die."

"Shut up! We're the fucking Rabbit Gang, we own this town. We keep order in this damn place. In exchange for tributes and certain things being overlooked, we keep local warlords from disrupting civilian life."

"By disrupting civilian life yourself, you mean?" Kakarot asked.

"You wouldn't get it. We're under a lot of pressure. Sometimes we need to let off some steam. If a local bandit lord or a more powerful military clique decides that this area would look nice painted their colour, we need our men to have clear heads."

"Military Clique? Like the Red Ribbon?" Kakarot asked.

The Rabbit laughed, "Kid, if the Red Ribbon Army came for this area, we'd throw in the towel. That's not a Military Clique, that's a fucking army that has a country. Anyone who messed with them got crushed under their tank treads."

"So I've heard," Kakarot muttered. He focused his eyes back on him. "So, who's this boss of yours?"

"Heh," the rabbit spat. "See for yourself." He pointed behind him with his good arm. Up the road, a dust cloud approached them. As it got closer, Kakarot realized it was some kind of car. It pulled up and stopped. Out of the car stepped a white rabbit in sunglasses, dressed in a fine tunic embossed with the logogram for 'rabbit.'

Kakarot sighed, took back Bulma's pistol, and blew a round into the head of the rabbit he'd been interogating. The boss guy immediately stopped in his tracks. Kakarot smirked at the boss rabbit, while handing the pistol back to Bulma.

"So," Kakarot began, "you the boss of this gang?"

Boss Rabbit nodded, and held out his hand, "Indeed I am, a pleasure to meet you, Mr."

Kakarot smacked his hand away. "Daikyō. And the pleasure is all yours." Boss Rabbit simply smiled.

"Indeed, it is." Kakarot wondered what he meant by that, before he felt something pushing against him from all directions. He tried to fight it, but it overwhelmed him within moments. Then, everything went dark.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this out! Finals combined with writers block does not a good writing schedule make. This shouldn't happen again, the story should hopefully be getting back to it's normal schedule of a new chapter every Saturday. And as always, thanks to Ranma-sensei for being my beta!**


	10. Boss Rabbit's Magic

**A/N: Not dead, am really sorry it took this long to update! Schoolwork combined with my muse being on life support just led to the story kind of stagnating. But, after a good amount of soul searching, and a nice read of _Strength of Many by Cerric_ , I have found it within myself to continue this story. I hope you enjoy! Updates will resume as normal starting next Saturday!**

* * *

It happened faster than Bulma could fathom. One second Kakarot was standing over the dead body and had slapped away the hand of the gang's boss… then he was just gone, while in the rabbit's hand was a… carrot. _No… no it can't be! Did he just-_

The Boss Rabbit let out a maniacal laugh, like something out of a Saturday morning cartoon. "Well, that was simple! I thought it might actually be difficult, but nope, he just handed me my victory." He spun to face them. Under his gaze, Chi-Chi gripped Bulma's hand tightly. Bulma gripped back, despite the pain it was causing. She knew the girl probably needed it right now. Though, judging by how old Chi-Chi was, Bulma got the feeling that she would be doing this for a long time.

Then, Boss Rabbit charged at them. Bulma shoved Chi-Chi to the side and jumped in the opposite direction. Chi-Chi scrambled to her feet and ran down the road, Boss Rabbit hot on her six. The other rabbits stood there and leered at her. A shiver crept up her spine as the fear truly set in. As one of them stepped closer she steeled herself. _Oh to hell with this, I am **not** curling up and hoping that they're gentle, I'm killing these motherfuckers!_

She pulled out her pistol and fired methodically, working her mind to the absolute limit. Calculating the flight vectors and trajectory of the bullets and the right spots to hit each person in the right spot to kill them instantly, each of the rabbits fell to her gun. As each rabbit fell to the ground, Bulma walked over to Kakarot's fallen Power Pole and picked it up, slinging it over her shoulder as she prepared for the next wave of goons to attack.

 **-R &R-**

Chi-Chi didn't even look back as she felt her feet hit the ground roughly. If she looked back now... she didn't even want to think about it. She couldn't do this, she didn't want to fight people like this! Her heartbeat pounded in her ears... so much so that she didn't even notice when her foot hit a curb until she impacted the ground and went skidding and flipping across it.

Coughing the dust out of her lungs, Chi-Chi saw Boss Rabbit rush her, hand extended. She quickly dove under his arm... and subsequently into a piece of rubble on the ground.

 _You know, if you just let the rest of your power in, you could wipe him out with ease._ Chi-Chi dove away from another attack, trying to ignore the voice. Quickly finding her feet, she ran up the road, only to find five more guys. Without even stopping, she focused power into her right hand and threw it an arc in front of her, blowing all of them away.

 _I already can,_ she thought giddily. _I don't need the rest of my power for this._

 _Maybe not for these guys, but for the boss guy, you might want it._

 _If I want it, I'll use it. Now shut up, I need to concentrate._

The voice sighed. _As you wish._

Chi-Chi felt that was almost too easy, but she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth when she was busy taking out more and more of these fools. Left or right, as she passed them, they fell to her. Sure, she was starting to feel a bit tired, but that didn't matter, there were practically no rabbits left after some minutes.

Of course, practically didn't mean 'totally,' as three more tried to dogpile her. As they charged, she bounced into the air and shot a Kamehameha straight down, destroying the men and sending her flying through the air. Twisting herself in the air, she rocketed over towards what she hoped was the next batch of men, or Boss Rabbit. Whichever one she found first.

 **-R &R-**

Nine-o-clock, two-o-clock, six-o-clock. They never learned, even as Bulma continued spinning and absentmindedly hit them with Kakarot's pole. She didn't know how to extend or retract it, but even at the length it currently was, it did the job just fine. She spun on her heel and smashed another guy in the temple, likely killing him instantly.

Unfortunately, holding the pole threw off her balance and she stumbled. Hitting the ground, she knocked out two more guys swinging as she forced herself back to her feet. She turned to hit another guy only to see him winding up for a punch far too fast for her to raise the pole.

 _Well, this was fun while it lasted. Guess I'm really screwed now._ As the Rabbit reached her, however, something suddenly hit him in the face, sending him spinning to the ground, unconscious. That something was the fist of a young man with long black hair. The young man put his hands on his knees, panting, before lunging at another one of the rabbits, sending him into a building. A small cat floated up to Bulma as the young man continued to fight off rabbits with his fists.

"Are you okay, miss?" the cat asked. Bulma nodded gingerly as she stood up. Looking over at one of the guys trying to the jump on the young man, she pulled her pistol back out and shot him in the head, ending his life. The young man looked over at her and nodded, before smashing his elbow into the face of the last rabbit on the road, knocking the man out cold.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" a loud voice suddenly called. Bulma spun around to see a very angry Boss Rabbit marching up the road with a bunch of his cronies behind him. With a sneer on his face, he reached for his belt and pulled out the Carrot that was Kakarot... the KaCarrot. "Now then," Boss Rabbit continued, "you are going to stand there and face my firing squad here or else-"

Boss Rabbit never got a chance to finish his demand, as the little cat shape-shifted into a bird and grabbed the KaCarrot out of his hand while he spoke. After looking at his hand then back at them a few times, the young man charged.

"Wolf Fang Fist!"

"Wolf Fang Wha-" Boss Rabbit didn't finish as he was met with a barrage of punches before being kicked though the air. The remaining rabbits looked at each other, trying to discern the best choice, but the choice was taken from them as Bulma opened fire and the young man began beating the others down. Punches, kicks, gunshots, it was all over within a few minutes, with all of the rabbits either dead or unconscious.

The cat returned to normal with a poof of smoke and handed Bulma the KaCarrot. Bulma smiled and nodded in thanks. _Well, now I guess I have to find Boss Rabbit and force him to return Kakarot to normal. As long as no one does anything causing his death..._ Suddenly, Bulma's train of thought stopped as it all converged in one place. "Oh shit, Chi-Chi!"

 **-R &R-**

"No... No Please!" the rabbit in front of her begged.

"Too little, too late," Chi-Chi replied coldly, stomping on his rib cage, killing the mobster instantly, spraying her gi's legs with blood.

 _Five-o-clock ,_ the voice sounded in her head. Chi-Chi bounced upwards as Boss Rabbit came smashing into the wall in front of her. He groaned, slowly sitting up and steadying himself. Chi-Chi looked him over, and he looked back at her, and smirked.

"Your minions are dead. Turn Kakarot back to normal before you join them," Chi-Chi said, getting into her fighting stance. Boss Rabbit chuckled.

"It might be a little difficult to do that when he's been grounded up and eaten by me," he replied.

Chi-Chi felt like her heart had stopped. "Wha-What?" she weakly asked,

"That's right, you failed to meet any demands of mine, so I executed my hostage. So, what will you do about it?"

Chi-Chi barely registered what Boss Rabbit had said. The only thing she could hear was the sound of her own heartbeat in her ears. Her vision slowly narrowed until it was just Boss Rabbit in front of her. She didn't know what to feel. True, Chi-Chi had only known the little Saiyan for a day, but the boy had been the only one who could understand what she had underneath her happy exterior, what was hidden every day by her happiness and innocence. In an instant, all her other emotion gave way to rage, as the part of herself she tried so hard to keep wrapped up boiled out of her with a cry of rage, taking full control. The wind whipped up around her, as a white aura formed around her, as her eyes remained solely focused on Boss Rabbit.

"What will I do about it, you say? I don't know. But I can start by killing you," she replied. A wicked grin spread across her face as she charged the mobster.

"Wait I-" he didn't get a chance to finish as Chi-Chi drove an uppercut into the man's chin, before running up the wall and back-handing him back into the ground. Diving forward, she began punching him relentlessly. Boss Rabbit tried to fight back, but was kept off balance by Chi-Chi's quick yet precise punches. Finally, after beating him for what seemed like hours, Chi-Chi kicked him in the crotch, sending him flying into the air with a squeal.

 _Very good. Teach him a lesson in what it means to hurt before ending his life. After all-_

 _Yes, I know. Life's greatest lessons are taught through pain. Pain of loss, pain of injury, it matters not-_

 _But it always teaches you something about yourself or about others._

Chi-Chi cupped her hands at her side and focused her power to her hands. "Ka... Me... Ha... Me..." as she was about to release it, something hit her in the back of the head, hard.

 **-R &R-**

"That is either the stupidest or smartest thing you could have done," Bulma said to the young man, who she now knew was Yamcha, the bandit who had given them the car that Kakarot had destroyed with his Kamehameha. Why he had followed them, she didn't really care at the moment. She wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth if it got her out of a bad situation.

Unfortunately, in this instance, he had taken her pistol and shot Chi-Chi in the back of the head as she charged a Kamehameha meant for Boss Rabbit. After the bullet hit, Chi-Chi slowly turned around, the white aura returning in force. Seeing Yamcha, the aura flickered orange before she suddenly vanished and appeared in front of him. Looking at each other briefly, Chi-Chi's aura flickered orange again before she punched Yamcha, sending him skidding across the ground.

He wasn't one to be beat down easily, however, as he bounced up and charged back, engaging in a fierce melee with the girl. Turning away from the fight, Bulma picked up her pistol and walked over to where Boss Rabbit was writhing on the ground in pain. She cocked her pistol and pointed it at the man, holding the KaCarrot in her other hand.

"Turn my friend back to normal. Now," she demanded. Boss Rabbit nodded hurriedly and told her to place it on the ground. Boss Rabbit quickly clapped his hands, and with a puff of smoke, the KaCarrot returned to being Kakarot. The little alien sat up groggily, rubbing his head.

"Ow... it feels like someone just crushed me down to the size of a capsule, then inflated me back to normal by force," he said. Suddenly his eyes locked onto those of Boss Rabbit's, as he pulled out a gun of his own and shot. Bulma looked around, not seeing where the bullet hit. _Kakarot must have deflected it._ Suddenly, her right side flared with pain. Feeling with her hand, she felt warm liquid running down her stomach. _Great,_ Bulma thought as she sank to her knees, _first nearly lose my arm, and now I get shot. Clearly, this adventure cannot get any worse from-_ Her thoughts never finished as she blacked out from the pain.

 **-R &R-**

It happened almost immediately. As soon as he saw Bulma fall, his hands were cupped at his side. "KAMEHAMEHA!" he screamed with all his might, putting every last bit of power he had into this final attack. Boss Rabbit's screams rang loud, but soon stopped like all the rest. The blue and white beam ceased as Kakarot's arms fell back to his sides. There was nothing left of Boss Rabbit, just a large trench in the road where it had previously been flat. Turning around quickly, he rushed over to where Bulma lay on the ground. He quickly tore a piece off his tattered gi and used it as a rag as he pressed on the wound to stop her bleeding, even as the town shook still. Within a few minutes, the bleeding had slowed, and after ten, it had stopped. Sighing in relief, he bounced off to quickly find their third companion so they could get Bulma to a medicinal centre.

Of course, actually locating her was another matter entirely. Simply because it was done within thirty seconds, when... _Yamcha?! What's he doing here?!_ Kakarot thought quickly, as the young bandit came flying out of a wall that shattered behind him, before tumbling up the road. Moments later, Chi-Chi jumped out of the hole, a look of pure indignation on her face.

"You couldn't just grab my hand and say 'hold on, Kakarot's still alive, and rabbit guy can return him to normal,' no, you had to _fucking **shoot** me_! Here, I have an idea! How about I blast you and turn your head into mush, because that's what would have happened to me if I was your average princess!" Chi-Chi held up her hand as a yellow ball formed in the middle of it, a cruel smirk on her face. Eyes widening, Kakarot quickly ran up to her and grabbed her obi with one hand, wrapping the other around her tail before she blew everything up.

With a yelp, Chi-Chi fell to the ground, the energy in her hand dissipating. When she turned her head up, Kakarot gave her a grin. "Apologies, Princess. But that blast looked like it would destroy much more than just Yamcha's head. I hope you understand," he said in Galactic Common. Chi-Chi nodded, and Kakarot released her tail. She immediately turned around and glomped Kakarot before he could back away. He sighed. "Before you get too comfy, mind finding some kind of medicinal centre? Bulma is injured and might need treatment." Chi-Chi immediately let go of him and bounced up, nodding before dashing off.

With a sigh, Kakarot back to Bulma, picking her up and returning her to their car. He didn't have long to wait, as shortly after he got there, Chi-Chi ran up to him, telling him where the town 'hospital' was located. While Kakarot thought it was a funny name for a medicinal centre, at least it wasn't a small clinic. When they brought her in and informed them of the situation, many of the men and women freaked out and brought out a stretcher and placed Bulma on it, before taking her into the back.

Told to wait, Kakarot sat in the lobby, while Chi-Chi held his arm to try and keep him calm. While the irony was not lost on him, he could care less. All he cared about was whether Bulma would be okay. _How fun, I'm getting emotionally bogged down by an Earthling getting hurt._

 _This mission just got a lot more complicated._

* * *

 **A/N: As always, thanks to _Ranma-sensei_ for betaing for me. Follow, Favourite, and Review (especially that last one), and I'll see you all next week!**


	11. A Wish from the Eternal Dragon

**A/N: Well, here we are! The final chapter of Arc 1! I promised myself I would get at least this far, and I certainly have. I hope you all enjoy!**

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When she came to, a loud pounding noise was echoing in her head, and her ears were ringing. Slowly, the ringing faded, and Bulma was able to hear her surroundings.

"-sure you shouldn't contact her family?" one person, female, said.

"No, her family is in an enemy country. Hell, according to the law, she could be considered an enemy combatant," another voice, male this time, replied.

"But… doesn't her family deserve to know?" the first voice asked.

"If you wanna risk getting charged with treason, little girl, then go right ahead. Might take you around five or six days just to get to the personal secretary, though, that is assuming you manage to stay on hold the entire time," the second voice said.

"But… you won't turn her in?" the first voice said.

"No. Her, you, and the tyke-bomb saved our town. Because of that, we can finally live freely again, not suffering under a madman's tyranny," the second voice replied. Footsteps clicked on the ground and got fainted and fainter until they were no longer discernible. Taking a deep breath, Bulma forced her eyes open, and immediately regretted it. The bright light made her eyes struggle to adjust as she groaned at the pain.

"Bulma!" the female voice cried. Bulma rubbed her eyes and looked to her right, seeing a small face, with long back hair framing it, and teary onyx black eyes staring at her.

Bulma smiled at the small girl, "Hey, Chi-Chi," looking around, she noticed her other companion was nowhere to be found, "hey, where's Kakarot?"

Chi-Chi leaned forward and hugged her carefully, sending a slight shot of pain through her side. Bulma winced, but hugged the girl back with a smile.

"Kakarot is just grabbing some food, he'll be back soon. I'm glad you're okay, Bulma," Chi-Chi replied. Bulma nodded in understanding and lightly nudged the young girl, signaling her to let go, which she promptly did. Bulma then asked what exactly happened, and Chi-Chi filled her in on the details. Apparently, after she had been shot, Kakarot had obliterated the Boss Rabbit, while Chi-Chi had spent the time giving Yamcha a beat-down of epic proportions over his chosen method of distraction, which involved shooting the 11-year-old Princess to distract her. Kakarot came up a few minutes later, and while he tried to hide it, Bulma noticed a hint of a smile on his face to seeing that she was alright.

About four days and seventeen clarifications that she wasn't going to be turned over to the World Government as an enemy combatant later, she was discharged from the hospital and the group got in their car. To a cheering crowd, the trio started their engine and drove out of the town, eager to finally move on and find the final Dragon Ball.

 **-R &R-**

After nearly a day and a half, the grasslands gave way to a forest of giant mushrooms. The roads also became much more decrepit, being barely dirt paths. Kakarot pulled the Dragon Radar out of Bulma's pouch and activated it.

"Just keep heading up this road Bulma. We're getting close to the One Star Ball!" he announced. Bulma cheered and pumped her left fist into the air.

"That reminds me… what are you two going to wish for, anyway?" Chi-Chi asked. Kakarot blinked and thought for a minute. He really didn't know what to wish for, unless he wanted to be a smart-ass and wish to become King of the Saiyans. _Yeah… not the best idea. Prince Vegeta would probably come and kill me once they find out where I am._ Before he could say anything, Bulma chose to step in.

"I was thinking maybe we could use it to bring your race back," Bulma stated simply. Chi-Chi blinked once. Then twice. Then freaked out.

"Oh god no! Don't bring them back, they were crazy! Not only that but they tended to take anything that they thought was cool, so you can say goodbye to your Dragon Balls the moment they find out what brought them back! Let alone the fact that they were both irritable and powerful, and the slightest provocation could cause them to turn this entire planet to ash, and that's not the ones that go murder happy!" she stammered out.

Before she could continue, Kakarot flicked her tail, causing her to shudder and stopped her for just long enough that he could get his words in. "What would you want to wish for Chi-Chi?"

She smiled and put her hand over her heart, "I would wish for eternal youth and beauty." Kakarot narrowed his eyes at her. Such a wish was far too simple, and couldn't possibly be what she actually wanted to wish for.

"Well," Bulma said, "it's better than doing something like wishing for a boyfriend or girlfriend."

"Who would risk their lives on a stupid wish like that?!" Kakarot and Chi-Chi both yelled at the same time. Bulma felt a slight urge to sneeze, but managed to suppress it. As the three continued to throw out suggestions of what to use the wish for, an explosion rocked the car, sending all three of them flying through the air and tumbling to the ground.

After his tumbling finally ceased, Kakarot sat up and rubbed his temples. _Well,_ he thought, _that happened._ Turning his head, the others were around him in similar conditions, sitting up and getting their bearings. As Kakarot stood up, the ground shook, and from the smoking rubble of their car emerged a large robot with an opaque glass window.

"Sorry!" it announced, "But we're taking the Dragon Balls. We hope you understand." The robot picked up the suitcase holding the Dragon Balls and rocketed off through the air, yelling "Sayonara!" Kakarot simply blinked in wonder. _Well, that happened_. He turned to Chi-Chi.

"Get after them! They took the Dragon Balls!" he yelled, perhaps a bit more harsh then he meant to. Chi-Chi nodded and scrambled to her feet.

"Nimbus!" she called. The cloud dutifully dropped from the sky as Chi-Chi boarded it, and it took off. Kakarot turned and walked over to where Bulma sat on the ground. She looked up at him and sighed.

"This trip is really not being kind to me," she said, pointing at her left foot, which seemed to be facing way too far to the left, with the ankle bulging out. _She got injured **again**? Are all humans this pathetic?! _

"What do I need to do to fix this one?" Kakarot asked.

"You? Not much. Just pop my ankle back in, I'll get it looked at later," Bulma replied. Kakarot nodded and did as she requested. After the **POP** , Bulma shakily stood up, leaning heavily to the right. "Looks like I won't be moving much, I can barely stand, let alone walk," she said.

Kakarot sighed, pulling out his Power Pole and extending it to the height of her elbow. "Here, use this to help you walk," he said, tossing it to her. Bulma smiled and nodded, he presumed in thanks, placing the pole down and using it to balance herself.

Suddenly, a car horn sounded behind them. Turning, Kakarot saw a car pull up next to them, driven by Yamcha, who had his weird cat on his shoulder. Kakarot crossed his arms.

"Look, if you want to try to rob us again, I'll save you the trouble, we don't have anything," he said.

"I can see that," Yamcha confirmed, "but I can also see that you don't have a car. And if I'm not mistaking, you just lost those legendary shiny orbs that you guys were carrying around all the time." Yamcha pointed up the road. "This way leads to the castle of Emperor Pilaf, a local warlord who wants nothing more than to become King of Earth. If I'm correct, and I know I am, he'll use the Dragon Balls to wish for that very thing. Rumour has it that the last time the Dragon Balls were used was when King Furry's ancestor become King, nearly 300 years ago."

"That's great and all," Kakarot said, "but what does this have to do with us?"

Yamcha grinned. "You two do want that wish, don't you? I can give you a ride to the castle, on the condition that the wish does something that benefits me."

Kakarot nodded, "Done deal. Easy enough." It would be so easy to simply make a wish that could theoretically make his life better in an incredibly vague way. But, hey, he wasn't being specific. Yamcha nodded back. "Good, then get in the car. Bulma can sit in the seat, you sit on the back." The two did as he said, and the car sped off. Only after they had been driving for some time did Kakarot suddenly remember something rather important. When no one was looking, he sent a ball of ki up into the air, where Chi-Chi could hopefully see it. Kakarot's intuition was correct, as within a couple of minutes he saw the yellow cloud tailing them in the distance. After nearly an hour of driving, the sun was setting, and a castle appeared on the horizon.

"Wow!" Bulma said, "That castle is huge!" The castle did seem pretty big, though pretty weak compared to the castles and compounds from his own memories. Shaking his head before the darkness returned, he hopped out of the car and ran up to the huge front door with the others. He pushed on it, and it opened easily.

"Guys, I think this might be a trap," Kakarot said.

"And? We don't have much of a choice. Let's head in. And if they do trap us, you and Yamcha could blow us a way out," Bulma replied.

"Could we at least wait so I can give my Dragon Ball to C-" he started, but Bulma, Yamcha, and Puar had already went in ahead of him. "Damn it..." he muttered, before running in after them. Catching up with them quickly, they walked down numerous hallways, each of which had only one exit.

"Guys, I can now say for certain, this is absolutely, undoubtedly, a trap," he said as they turned around a corner and reached a dead end. As he finished saying it, the wall behind them closed. Kakarot sighed yet again. "Speak of Lord Beerus and he shall appear," he waited for five seconds, but nothing happened. "Oh well, it was worth a shot."

"What was?" Yamcha asked him.

"Nothing, nothing at all," Kakarot said, waving his hands back and forth, hopefully believably. Yamcha looked like he didn't believe him, but didn't press the issue.

"Silence, commoners! Now hand over the Dragon Ball or you'll regret it!" a voice shouted over the loudspeaker. Kakarot's eyebrows flicked up. He was many things, but a commoner was _not_ one of them. And to make note of this, he stood up, but it seemed Bulma had beaten him to it, albeit in a slightly different manner

"Like we'd ever give that to you, beeeee," she said, sticking out her tongue at the camera. Kakarot giggled at her antics. A loud sigh emanated from the loudspeaker.

"Fine, I guess we'll do this the boring way," the little imp said on the screen. Several points on the wall opened and filled the room with smoke. Kakarot felt lightheaded, before his limbs went numb, then everything went dark.

 **-R &R-**

When he woke up, the room was lit up, but it was empty except for his companions. He felt behind him and noticed his Dragon Ball was gone. _Fan-freaking-tastic. Now they have all 7, since Chi-Chi couldn't keep hers on her like I did mi-_ he blinked as he came to a realisation: they might not be able to stop it, but if he could somehow signal Chi-Chi, she could stop it. He looked at the wall, closing his eyes in concentration, drawing all the ki he had inside him to his hands. He took a deep breath. "Kaaaaa...Meeeeee... Haaaa... Meeeeee..." he let the breath out as he cupped his hands at his side. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

He let out a blast much bigger than the ones he'd let out before, making the entire room shake.

When the light cleared, there was only a hole small enough to fit a small object, or maybe his hand, though, it was large enough. He put his hand in the hole and started firing small balls of ki out into the air outside. Sure enough, after about 10 blasts, he saw the yellow cloud flying around outside the hole, one more blast and it started flying closer. Within a minute, Chi-Chi, or at least her eye, could be seen outside the hole.

"Oh god! Are you guys okay? I can get you out-"

"You can let us out in a minute, Chi-Chi! Those idiots down there are about to make their wish! You have to stop them! I don't care what you wish for, just make sure they don't rule the world!" Bulma yelled out. Without words, Chi-Chi nodded, and zoomed off.

 **-R &R-**

Emperor Pilaf looked at the blasts firing out from the prison cell, and knew he likely had little time before something happened. He took a deep breath and smiled. The day he had been dreaming of for nearly a decade had finally come to fruition. He had all seven dragon balls before him. He held out his hands and called out, "Rise now, Eternal Dragon! Come forth and grant my wish!"

As soon as he said the phrase, the Dragon Balls began to glow. Clouds moved in and blocked the stars and moon, leaving only darkness in the great plain. A great burst of lightning shot from the Dragon Balls and up into the clouds, forming into a river-like shape... before solidifying into a giant green dragon. It let out a loud growling sound and stared down at Pilaf with its red eyes.

" **You have summoned the Eternal Dragon, make your wish and I shall grant it.** "

The giant grin on Pilaf's face grew even wider. This was it, he was finally going to become King of the world, after all this time!

"Yes, I wish fo-"

"Eternal Dragon!" a voice rang out. Pilaf looked up and saw a small girl standing on a yellow cloud. "Grant myself and my companions eternal youth!"

"W-Wait, this wish is my-" Pilaf began, but was interrupted by the Dragon rumbling. He looked up and saw the Dragon's eyes glow even brighter, and looked back to the girl to see a white glow appear around her, before dissipating.

The Dragon then spoke, " **Your wish has been granted. I shall take my leave now. Farewell!** " The Dragon began to glow again, and the Dragon Balls rose slowly into the air until they touched the Dragon's head. When they reached that point, the Dragon vanished, and the Dragon Balls each shot off through the sky in a different direction.

"N-n-n-no!" Pilaf screamed as the Dragon Balls disappeared.

 **-R &R-**

Bulma watched as Chi-Chi, with her hands tied behind her back, was marched into their makeshift cell, then the rest of them were marched into a room made completely out of steel with a solid glass roof, and the door was locked behind them, before being sealed with another steel panel.

"Nice, you steal the wish and then get yourself captured. How does that work?" Bulma asked, more than slightly annoyed.

"It's not my fault! They had a laser gun!" Chi-Chi said, waving her arms up and down.

"And that matters because? You and Kakarot can deflect bullets by smacking them!"

"And yet," Kakarot interrupted, "lasers are pretty much the one thing our bodies cannot deflect. It's like a ridiculously focused one of our blasts. It'll cut through anything until it dissipates."

"Yeah, and I found that out the hard way," Chi-Chi muttered, turning around to show that only a small portion of her tail remained.

"Ouch," Kakarot said, wincing. He walked over to her and grabbed the stump, pulling on it as hard as he could, while holding her against the wall. Chi-Chi screamed loudly, and when Bulma ran over to help her, the stump simply popped off her. "See? Now that I did that, it won't get infected. It'll grow back eventually. I've lost mine before, it always comes back," Kakarot said.

While her face was red and teary, she nodded and muttered a small thanks that sounded heartfelt. Bulma shook her head and sighed. She was never going to understand whatever race those two came from... nor did she really want to. She really needed to look into that when she went back home, the answers were eluding her and she hated that.

"Well, enough of that! We need to figure out a plan to get out of- out of-out of-" Kakarot said as he looked upwards.

Chi-Chi seemed to follow his eyes, before she went white in the face. "Oh... shit." Bulma looked up and saw a full moon.

"Wait, what do you-" Bulma started, but was interrupted as Kakarot's entire body began to shudder and shake, seemingly with the beating of his heart. His body began to grow bigger and more muscular, as Chi-Chi dragged them over to underneath him. As the growing child hit the glass ceiling, it shattered. He continued growing until he loomed over the castle, a giant ape roaring under the light of the full moon.

Bulma tried to stop her shaking body as she clung to Yamcha's back, with Chi-Chi on her cloud next to them with the Power Pole. "Wha-What is he?!" she squealed.

Chi-Chi looked down at her feet. "That's why we are hated. That's why we were hunted," she looked Bulma dead in the eyes, "that's what we can do. When we look at a moon like that, our bodies transform and we're flooded with power. When we're young," she looked over at the Great Ape, "we cannot control it. Some amongst us were taught to, but only when we were older."

"But, then why didn't you transform? Aren't you from the same race as him?" Bulma asked.

Chi-Chi pointed at her back. "Yeah. I can do the same thing. But I don't have my tail, remember?" Bulma blinked. It made perfect sense. Kakarot still had his tail, so he transformed. But Chi-Chi, who didn't have hers since Kakarot removed it, didn't transform.

"Then how do we stop him?!" Yamcha asked. Chi-Chi shook her head.

"You don't! You either wait for the moon to go down or you cut off his tail! I mean, you could destroy the moon, too, but I doubt any one of us could do that!"

"Wait, and there are people who could?!" Bulma screamed as a giant blast nearly disintegrated them, but vaporised a castle tower instead.

"Are you going to avoid him all day or are you going to help take him down?!" Chi-Chi yelled as she fired a blast behind them, hitting the Great Ape Kakarot in the snout. Kakarot roared as he jumped out of the collapsing castle ruins, landing on the ground with a loud **SMASH** , causing the ground to shake.

"Cat thing! Transform into scissors and wait for my mark!" Chi-Chi yelled, jumped off the cloud and landed on the Giant Ape's hand.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" all three of them yelled in unison. Chi-Chi looked up at them and smiled before turning back to Kakarot.

 **-R &R-**

Chi-Chi looked up at the red eyes of the boy who she'd accompanied for nearly 2 weeks now. "Kakarot," she said quietly, "I know you're still in there. Don't worry. It'll be over soon." Kakarot responded to this by trying to swat her away with his other hand. She took a deep breath and ran up his arm as fast as she could. When the slap came, she grabbed his hand and pulled herself onto his other arm. As it reached his shoulder, she bounced onto his snout and fired a Kamehameha right into the boy's left eye.

The ape visibly recoiled and roared loudly, covering his eye with his left hand and swinging wildly. Chi-Chi ran up his head and jumped down his back. "I'm really sorry!" she called, grabbing his tail, "CAT! NOW, CUT OFF HIS TAIL!" The scissors appeared next to her and cut clean through the giant tail.

The Ape roared and seemed to almost let out a scream, before slowly shrinking down, back to Kakarot's normal size, before losing balance and falling over. Bulma walked over and took off her vest, using it to cover the small naked child like a blanket.

"I guess that proves it," Bulma whispered to Chi-Chi, "you two are definitely aliens." Chi-Chi nodded.

"I wish it hadn't happened, it could be a roadmap right to us. We don't know where those who hunt us are, but this is like sending up a flare. We need to-" Chi-Chi suddenly felt a ringing in her head, and her vision began to fade in and out. Then, her whole body went numb. _Not again!_ she screamed in her head as she fell over.

 **-R &R-**

When the vision came into focus, the first thing she saw was a baby crying. Even before she could hear it. The baby was sitting in a cushioned crib as he sobbed. Looking at the baby, her heart almost stopped. It looked like a miniature version of Kakarot. She really wanted to sooth the baby, but she couldn't do anything in this vision. Then, the door opened lightly and a young boy with black hair walked in and picked up the baby.

"There, there Toma, it's okay, it's okay. Mom will be home soon," he whispered to the baby, Toma, rocking the little thing in his arms. Chi-Chi didn't know what he did, but the baby's cries grew weaker, until little Toma was gurgling in the boy's arms, seeming to be happy. "I know mom will be home soon," the boy said, looking into the sunset outside his window, "she has to be."

Smiling at the scene, Chi-Chi felt the familiar tug in the back of her mind, signalling the end of the vision.

Chi-Chi woke up to a beautiful sunrise. She rubbed her eyes and sat up, finding that she'd been moved under a mushroom while she was asleep. Yawning, she looked around to find that everyone else was awake already. Even Kakarot, who had wrapped some piece of fabric around his waist.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," Bulma said with a smile. She was standing there while holding Yamcha's hand. _Well, that's different._ Kakarot walked over to her and offered her a hand up, which she took. The boy had a large bruise around his left eye, which Chi-Chi looked away from.

Kakarot turned to the others. "Hey, once the year's time limit is up, we should go find the Dragon Balls again. Maybe wish for immortality to go along with what Chi-Chi gave us?"

"Wait, what did she wish for?" Bulma asked.

"Really? She wished for Eternal Youth for all of us. Are you deaf or something?" Kakarot asked, only to be promptly smacked upside the head by Bulma.

"...wait, so I'll be this young and beautiful forever?" Bulma asked. Chi-Chi nodded.

"I think so... at least that's what I think it should do," Chi-Chi answered.

"Huh... but anyway, no, I don't need the Dragon Balls, Kakarot," Bulma said.

"But... how will I find them on my own?" Bulma smiled and handed him the Dragon Radar.

"Just press the button on top of this, and it'll show where each Dragon Ball is located, twist it to change direction in standard measurements, I have it in metres right now. It goes can go up to yottometres theoretically, but I have it only up to gigametres and down to nanometres, since I doubt I'd ever need it to go higher or lower. Left to go lower, right to go higher," she explained in painstaking detail. While Chi-Chi wished she'd have simply explained it 'left go lower, right go higher, it's metric,' Kakarot seemed to lap up every detail, even inquiring about something called 'yoctometres,' which sent him and Bulma off on what seemed to be a nerd contest. Chi-Chi sighed. _If those two had a kid, they would be the ultimate nerd._ Kakarot turned and walked over to Chi-Chi.

"Hey... remember when Roshi offered to let us train with him?" he asked. Chi-Chi nodded. "Well... I was thinking... since I don't have anything to do, I was gonna take him up on that offer... and was wondering if... you'd like to come with me."

Chi-Chi blinked at the thought. Sure, it wasn't like she had anything to do either... but she didn't really have anything to counter it. She simply smiled.

"I'd be happy to! I'll even give you a ride there!" she turned and looked up in the air. "Nimbus!" she called. The cloud immediately dropped from the sky and stopped next to her. "Come on then!"

Yamcha nodded and threw a capsule, revealing a small plane. "We're heading to West City. This plane has Red Ribbon markings and IFF, so we can slip back in there no problem."

"Good luck there, you guys!" Kakarot waved, grabbing Chi-Chi's gi and climbing onto the cloud.

Chi-Chi took a deep breath. "Nimbus, soar!" she yelled, as Nimbus slowly circled into the air, following the plane, before the two groups waved goodbye for the last time as they turned in opposite directions. Chi-Chi smiled as Kakarot wrapped his arms around her as they flew into the sunrise. It wasn't exactly romance, but she did have to admit, it certainly felt nice.

 **-R &R-**

"See? I told you it would all turn out okay!" Gine said cheerily to her companion.

"I still don't like that you left my daughter to fend for herself against an Oozaru, Geen," Seripa replied, looking away from her long-time friend and comrade.

"Come on, Sera! I didn't think that she would manage to lose her tail! I figured that if Kakarot transformed, Chi-Chi would, too, and they would duke it out while the others got out of the way! And that's perfectly fine, I did it with my brother when we were younger, and we were just fine," Gine said.

"Gine, you're literally so cheery that I think you got knocked on the head too many times. I wouldn't say you turned out just fine," Seripa stated.

"Excuse me, who has the Power Level of 4,000 and who has the Power Level of 70?" Gine asked sarcastically.

"Give me a break, I've let myself go a bit! I'll work on training once my daughter is ready to train with me, which should be in around a year or so," Seripa said.

"Fine, but just be careful, a lot can happen in a year. Take care of yourself, Sera!" Gine said as she flew off in to the east.

"Yeah... I'll do that, Geen," Seripa muttered under her breath as she flew off back towards her home, her husband must have been worried sick about her. She hoped he'd made something good for food, she was in desperate need of some right now.

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks as always to Ranma-sensei for being my beta!** **And with this first arc done, I am now hopefully one step closer to my ultimate dream: one of my works having a TVTropes page! I hope you have enjoyed and that you will continue to enjoy it! Read & Review please!**


	12. Yin & Yang

**A/N: This is effectively a transition chapter between Arc I and Arc II. Next week begins Arc II.**

* * *

"IF YOU HAVE ANY SYMPATHY LEFT, PLEASE STOP!" a young boy screamed out. And just like that, the spinning stopped.

Chi-Chi smiled at her passenger. "Now, what do you say, Kakarot?" she asked with feigned politeness. The young Saiyan shivered.

"I'm sorry for insulting Earthlings for being a backwards race, they're just unadvanced technologically, now please no more spinning!" he said. Chi-Chi smiled and faced back forward. The two had just left Chi-Chi's home, where her mother was apparently still not home, and were now on their way towards Mount Paozu and Kakarot's small home in the mountains. Within minutes, they were flying over Mount Paozu's small range and looking down at the rivers and forests.

"Where is your home, Kakarot?" she asked. He leaned over the side of cloud and directed her to the general area until she saw a clearing with a small house in the middle of it. With a smile, she maneuvered Nimbus into doing a small loop as they slowly descended, coming to a stop in front of the door of the small shrine-like house.

Almost as soon as they stopped, Kakarot bounced off and ran into it. While she waited for the boy to gather his things, she hopped off Nimbus, leaving her floating in front of the house, as she walked around the clearing. While the grass was a bit long and the weeds growing a bit far, it was fairly unremarkable. A small stump, likely for splitting wood, rested just off the path. A gust of wind caused Chi-Chi to stumble forward, and when she turned around, there stood a young woman with onyx eyes, shoulder length shaggy hair, wearing a suit of armour like what her mother had in her storage.

"W-Who are you?" Chi-Chi stuttered out, shocked by this woman's sudden appearance. The woman smiled lightly.

"I suppose I have to introduce myself to you," she said, "my name is Daikyō Gine Onio, formerly a member of PTO Squad 81754 under Daikyō Bardock, who I later married. I am the mother of Daikyō Kakarot, your companion."

 _Squad 81754… wait…_ "You worked with my mom?!" Chi-Chi exclaimed. Gine nodded.

"Yes, your mother, Seripa, was one of the strongest members of the team," she explained. Chi-Chi tried to sort it out mentally, but kept confusing herself in the process.

 _It's simple, really. Onio Gine was the group mechanic. She made sure all the ships worked properly, all the gear was set up, and of course, made sure explosives went off when they needed to. Seripa was a fighter, always at the front with Toma and Bardock. She was always eager to prove herself, after all, she was the only Second-Class Saiyan on the team. The rest were all First-Class nobility, new or old._

 _And you know this, how?_

 _Some things you are really better off not knowing._

 _So, basically, you don't feel like telling me._

 _I'll tell you when I think you can handle it._

Chi-Chi sighed, the voice in her head as unhelpful as ever. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she looked back at Gine. "That's great and all," the young princess said, "but why is this important?"

Gine shook her head in exasperation, "Because procedure must be maintained, apparently, despite the fact that our race is practically extinct. As a hybrid, you're considered as the same caste as your Saiyan parent, Second Class. Yet you are a Companion to a First-Class noble child. This is… odd… to say the least. Now, I don't really care, my son is free to make his own choices in Companions, but your mother kept pestering me about it." She walked up to the young princess and tapped her on both cheeks with her forefingers. "I, Daikyō Gine Onio, in lieu of the Clan Head and as the last verified matriarch of Clan Daikyō, I do approve of and confirm young Chi-Chi's status as Companion to the child Daikyō Kakarot." She stepped back. "There. Done. Now hopefully your mother will quit bugging me about it."

Chi-Chi blinked. _What was that?_ she wondered. Though, not realizing it, she said that out loud.

"That, my dear, was standard procedure. If a First-Class child takes on a companion of a lower class, it must be approved by their Clan. Dumb? Yes. Boring? Even more yes. But these types of things were probably invented so the nobility had something to do once they reached old age," Gine grumbled.

"And yes I'll stop bothering you about it. I honestly just wanted to see if you remembered how it worked," a voice behind Chi-Chi said. But this voice she recognized instantly. A huge smile on her face, she spun around and dashed straight into the person, wrapping them in a giant hug, which was returned.

"Hey, Chi-Chi. Have you been good for your father?" her mother asked. Chi-Chi nodded.

"I've done everything he's asked to the best of my ability and I've made sure to not be too much trouble. I… I used that goodwill to get him to let me go with Bulma and Kakarot on their trip to find the Dragon Balls. Gather all seven and the Eternal Dragon will grant you a single wish. I used it to wish for eternal youth and beauty for myself and my companions," Chi-Chi explained.

Seripa stepped back from her daughter and put her hand on her chin, thinking. "So," she began, "you wished that you'd be young forever… does that mean that you'll stay a little chibi forever, or does it mean that you'll stop aging once you hit your prime?"

Chi-Chi stood still, as she felt the blood drain from her face. She didn't specify it at all. Now it was highly possible that she would be a little kid forever… and she had doomed poor Kakarot to the same fate.

"I… I..." A thought suddenly came to her. "I don't know! But if I did make us children forever, I'll… I'll find the Dragon Balls again and ask the Dragon to let us grow up!"

Seripa smiled and tousled Chi-Chi's hair. "I admire your loyalty to your friends."

Behind them, Gine audibly sighed and simply walked into the house, likely to talk to her own child.

"So, where do you go from here?" Seripa asked.

"Well… I was gonna go and train under Master Roshi, the turtle hermit who trained dad," Chi-Chi said.

"How long would that take?"

Chi-Chi thought about it. "I don't know. Maybe a year? I could probably go longer if I wanted to." Seripa smiled and knelt down in front of her daughter.

"Alright. Go train for the next year or so. The _Tenkaichi Budokai_ is coming up in about a year, and when it comes, I'll take you to go see it and all the fighters. Maybe you can see something to augment my style there," Seripa promised.

Chi-Chi let a smile cover her face, she'd wanted to go see it when she was seven, but never got a chance to. With the Tournament returning, she'd finally get a chance to see it. And since she was a Princess, she could easily get front row seats for the viewing of the quarter-finals onwards. It would finally be a chance to see how the greatest in the world fight, maybe even fight in the tournament itself one day.

"Chi-Chi, you're daydreaming. I know you want to be the World Champion one day, and you very well might be, but for now, try to keep your feet on the ground. At least until you're strong enough that I can teach you how to fly," her mother said. Chi-Chi blushed at that, her mother could read her like an open book.

 **-R &R-**

Of course he didn't have a gi. Kakarot walked around the small house digging through everything, only finding a pair a blue pants and a white undershirt, yet he couldn't find another gi anywhere. Which meant he'd have to either make one himself or find a way to purchase one. Quickly gathering a bunch of stuff, including his spare futon in the closet, he laid them by the door and continued grabbing stuff, hoping to find a spare gi to train in.

But alas, all there was, were more white undershirts. Sighing, Kakarot recognized he wouldn't find a gi, and pulled his head out of the closet.

"Kakarot!" a voice behind him called. His heart started beating rapidly, he didn't want her here, not now. But he knew he'd have to face the music eventually, might as well be now. With a deep breath he turned around and saw his mother standing there, arms crossed.

"Mother," he replied simply. Onyx stared into onyx, as if daring the other to make a move. Gine's shoulders then slumped and she uncrossed her arms.

"Come on, Kakarot. Outside," she said, turning back to the door. Cautiously, Kakarot followed her outside. She turned around and looked at him carefully.

"Well? Explain what happened on your trip to see the world, Kakarot," she said. Kakarot nodded and explained how Bulma had recruited him to find seven legendary orbs that could grant you one wish when they were all gathered, and the course of the quest, from leaving the shrine all the way to the scattering of the Dragon Balls and him losing his tail. All the while, Gine just nodded and asked for clarification at certain parts.

When Kakarot finished, Gine looked him over, before stepping back. "You seem like you have something to say. So say it."

He took a breath, before beginning, "I… I don't know what to do." Gine raised an eyebrow at this. "I… I'm so confused right now. Journeying out with Bulma and later Chi-Chi… I don't want to kill either of them! But they would stop me from completing my mission, so I have to… I can't take it!" He felt tears threatening to spill, but he held them back. "For the first time in my life since coming to this world, I felt… something, I don't know what, but I wanted them to be safe! Can you believe that? My mission is to kill this entire race of humans, yet they're the first real people I've been able to tolerate since my Companions are almost certainly all dead!" His three companions had died in the same destruction of his planet. As far as he could tell, only himself, his mother, and now Chi-Chi and her mother were still alive. The tears were coming closer now, and there wasn't much more he'd be able to do. But, in this moment his mother surprised him. She walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry," she smiled, "do as you wish. You're not wasting away here in the woods anymore, you're actually living. Just live the way you want to."

"B-But… what about my mission?"

"I really never cared about it. I just wanted you to leave and meet some people. I've suffered too long by myself, I never want you to feel that way." Kakarot's heartbeat increased as he felt his world crumble around him. He had wanted to finish his mission so badly, but why?

He knew why, deep down. He'd wanted his mother to smile at him, to look at him with light in her eyes, to play with him and hug him, and her constant egging him on his mission drove him to believe that he had to finish the mission to earn her love… but she never cared. She wanted him to go out and meet people, and pushed him away for so long, just for that reason? He mattered so little that she felt that manipulating him was better than simply telling him that the mission didn't matter anymore, and to treat this place as his home?

Rage filling him, he reached up and gripped his mother's hand on his shoulder tightly, enough to hurt most people.

"So, I mattered that little to you, huh?" Kakarot asked sardonically.

"Kakarot, no, I-" Gine tried to say, but Kakarot interrupted her.

"No, I'm speaking here. What did you think, that once I killed everyone, you'd show up and say I never had to do it, and think everything would be fine? NO! You manipulated me! You never cared at all! I open everything I have to you, and all you have to say is that you don't care?!" Kakarot knew his voice was rising, but didn't care anymore. When he finished, Gine shoved him away from her and flew off quickly with a white aura trailing behind her.

Kakarot, for his part, simply let himself fall into the grass and didn't bother to move. Why should he? He had no more purpose, nothing left. _I should just head back out and start slaughtering the Earthlings, anyway. She wants to manipulate me, make me not want to kill them, I'll make her understand just how wrong she was!_ Yet, he couldn't even summon up the energy to sit up, let alone start leaving the clearing.

As he lay contemplating, omnicide seemed like a more and more appealing option, until his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a stick snapping. He tilted his head to look in the direction and saw Chi-Chi standing there above him, a worried look on her face. Kakarot didn't know what to think, until she reached her hand out towards him. Looking at her hand, he finally released what he felt and let the tears fall. Even after all this, Chi-Chi was still here for him, and doubtless Bulma would be, too. Kakarot let himself smile and reached up his hand to accept Chi-Chi's. She helped him to his feet and the two of them walked, hand-in-hand, to the Flying Nimbus, where Chi-Chi had already loaded his futon for him. After climbing onto the cloud, it sped off to the south, towards the island of the Turtle Hermit.

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 **A/N: An alternative title for this chapter was _Jumping to Conclusions._ Thanks as always to Ranma-sensei for being my beta. Remember to Follow, Favourite, and _Review_. See you all next chapter!**


	13. The Third Student

**A/N: Someone asked me where the title of this story comes from, and here's the answer: When I was describing the proto-outline of this story to a friend of mine, I said "Kakarot's actions often have no rhyme or reason to them, he just kinda does them." After repeating that a few times, I kinda just turned the 'or' into an ampersand and started using it as the working title for the story… I just never decided to change it.**

 **Dragon Ball is owned by Toei Animation, Funimation, Shueisha, and Akira Toriyama. Please support the official release.**

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Feeling her Companion hugging her tightly from behind, Chi-Chi watched below as the ocean sparkled beneath them, like trillions of azure gems huddled together, racing past them as the Nimbus raced over the water. Dolphins, birds, and other such animals passed beneath them as they journeyed on. Finally, in the distance, a small island with a sole bright pink house appeared on the horizon.

"Look! There it is, Kakarot!" Chi-Chi said in her normal cheery tone. Turning around, Kakarot gave her a blank expression, then smiled lightly and nodded. Facing back forward, she spiraled down in a circle, offloading their stuff from Nimbus when they reached the island.

Chi-Chi ran up and rang the doorbell. Nothing. She rang it again. Nothing. She knocked on the door. Nothing. She knocked on it again, harder. Still nothing. She turned around and looked behind her to see Kakarot sitting on the beach, looking out over the water blankly. _Damn it, the poor kid thinks no one cares about him. I need to rectify that before it goes too far._ She waited for the voice to give her some kind of rebuttal, but it had nothing to say. Maybe it agreed with her this time?

Chi-Chi walked passed the window and heard some kind of music playing from the window. She poked her head in… to see the great Master Roshi ogling the crotch of some woman on an exercise program. _Really?_ She climbed in the window and unlocked the door for Kakarot to come in, which he did after some beckoning. When he saw the scene with Roshi, he let out a sad sigh.

Sighing in return, Chi-Chi quietly slipped over to the TV, where she saw a power strip plugged into the wall. Reaching down, she pressed the switch on it and turned it off. When she heard the TV turn off, she knew she'd made the right choice. Looking, she saw the Turtle Hermit press the button on the TV, to no avail.

"Master Roshi!" Chi-Chi called, having slipped back behind him while he was distracted with the TV. The Turtle Hermit quickly turned around.

"Hmm? Oh, it's you two. Did you find the Dragon Balls?" Roshi asked.

"Yeah-huh! All seven of them gathered together, the sky got dark, then a bright light rose into the sky and the Eternal Dragon appeared!" Chi-Chi said.

"I'm not gonna bother asking what you wished for, since if you wanted to tell me you would have. Just go over there and do something while I finish watching my exercise tape," Roshi continued.

"VHS or Betamax?" Chi-Chi asked.

"VHS, of course! Who the hell even buys Betamax?!" Roshi snapped.

"...what are either of those?" Kakarot asked. Both Chi-Chi and Master Roshi stared at him, before falling flat on their faces in shock.

 **-R &R-**

The three stood on the beach, with Master Roshi overlooking the other two from the porch. "Alright!" Master Roshi said, "I have to warn you two, my training isn't easy."

"I understand that," Kakarot replied.

"As do I," Chi-Chi said.

"But I have a very special request for a training fee," Roshi continued, "I want you to find a pretty girl and bring her here." Kakarot sighed. _And there's the plot twist_.

"Does she have to agree to come, or can I just knock her out and bring her here?" Kakarot asked. He then heard a grunt of anger next to him, and turned his head just in time for Chi-Chi's palm to meet his face.

"Of course she has to agree to it!" Chi-Chi yelled. "We'll do this, on the condition that when we find the girl, you'll train us. No extra conditions, no last-minute things."

"Yup!" Roshi said, flashing a victory sign.

"Also," she continued, "you cannot make her do anything she doesn't want to."

"W-Why would I do that?! What do you take me for?!" Roshi sputtered.

"Just covering all the bases," Chi-Chi replied. Kakarot shook his head and looked out over the water. He rubbed his eyes quickly to make sure he wasn't seeing anything, but nope, he wasn't. In the distance was a figure moving over the water.

Kakarot pointed out over the water. "Someone's coming."

"Damn it, is Turtle back from vacation already? He always spoils my fun!" Roshi said.

"Nope, I think it's someone in a boat," Kakarot said. Indeed, it was. As the boat got closer, Kakarot could make out the figure on it. A short bald boy in a yellow tunic and orange pants. He seemed to be concentrating on his paddling extremely hard. When he got a fair distance off the shore, he crouched down, took a deep breath, and jumped through the air, doing a flip… and landing headfirst in the sand up to his shoulders.

"...Who the hell is this goof? Mind pulling him out, Chi-Chi?" Roshi asked. Chi-Chi nodded and grabbed the boy by his legs, pulling him out of the sand and holding him up by the legs.

 **-R &R-**

The day had started out well enough for Krillin. He'd made it to the shore, found a boat to commandeer, and had rowed it all the way out to Kame Island. Things had been going well, until he judged his distance wrong and landed headfirst in the sand, making him look like an ostrich. Then, someone had grabbed his legs, pulled him out of the sand unceremoniously and was now hanging him upside down by his legs. Krillin tried kicking his legs, but the girl didn't even appear phased. He just had to not be kicking hard enough, no way a girl was stronger than him, right?

"You 'kay?" the girl asked.

"Yes, I'm okay, now let me go!" Krillin yelled. The girl blinked, then dropped him on his head. After recovering his wits, he stood up, rubbing his head. "Who are you? And what are you doing here?!"

The girl blinked down at him with a big smile. "I'm Chi-Chi, the Ox Princess. I'm here to learn from Master Roshi, just as my father did." The nerve of this damn girl to call the Great Turtle Hermit by his name so casually! At least she was respectful about it… and damn it, the more he looked at her, the prettier she looked. Probably some kind of magic that royalty had. Assuming that she was telling the truth and not just acting, which was honestly more plausible now that Krillin thought about it.

He looked around, saw the Turtle Hermit standing there, and next to him was a small boy in blue pants and a tank top, with hair that looked like a palm tree. Krillin shook his head and ran up to the Turtle Hermit and gave a crisp bow. "Are you the great Turtle Hermit, Master Roshi?"

"Indeed, I am," Roshi answered back.

"My name is Krillin! I came all this way from the Northeast to ask you for training!" Krillin said. Roshi took a deep breath.

"Well, I gotta commend you for effort, but I'm not currently taking on any more students," Roshi replied. Krillin simply reached into his bag and pulled out a magazine, which he chose specifically for this meeting.

"I also brought this, specially for you!" he said, holding it up for Master Roshi. Roshi took the magazine gingerly.

"I'll take it under consideration," Roshi said, before opening the magazine. "Ooh! Now this is quite exquisite material!"

"I'm glad you like it, sir!" Krillin said with another bow. He looked over at the kid with the pine tree hair. "I haven't heard you say anything yet. Who're you?"

The boy blinked at him. "My name is Daikyō Kakarot," he said, before he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small grey case, handing it to Chi-Chi. Chi-Chi proceeded to open the case and pull out a capsule, opening it to reveal another case, this of cassette tapes. She quickly placed it into a Walkman she pulled out of her pocket, putting on a pair of headphones and placing the Walkman back in her pocket, before placing the tape case back in the capsule and handing it back to Kakarot.

Krillin was more than a little annoyed that he was being completely ignored. "Hey! Don't ignore me!"

Kakarot blinked. "Sorry, but I answered your question, I don't have anymore information to provide you."

Roshi cleared his throat loudly to get everyone's attention. "Now, Krillin, you must find me a pretty girl if you wish to train with me. Do you understand what I'm looking for?"

Krillin nodded and whispered into his ear what he'd seen in the magazine he'd given Master Roshi. Roshi pulled away nodding. "P-Precisely! Well, then, I guess you're excused from this exercise, Kakarot."

"Huh?" Kakarot looked at Master Roshi. "Why?"

"Because, Krillin obviously knows what I'm looking for, and Chi-Chi is the one who owns the Flying Nimbus. I know for a fact you cannot fly it, and I know from experience you can only fit three people on it. Therefore, you are the obvious choice to leave behind," Roshi explained. The boy nodded in understanding. Chi-Chi walked over to him and passed him the Walkman, before walking to the edge of the water.

"NIMBUS!" she yelled. On cue, a yellow cloud spiraled down from the sky and landed next to her. Krillin watched in disbelief as she bounced onto the cloud. She turned to look at Krillin. "Come on!" she called to him, "we don't have all day, ya know!" Krillin ran up to the cloud and tried to jump onto it just as she had, only to fall right through it and hit the ground hard.

"And this is why those two are going," Roshi explained, presumably to Kakarot.

Chi-Chi sighed and held out her hand, which Krillin reluctantly took. While he was holding onto her, he could just about balance on the cloud. "You can hold onto my gi while we fly. Just make sure to hold on tight." She gave him a Cheshire cat smile. Just as Krillin was about to ask what she meant, she called out, "Nimbus, soar!"

Without warning, they accelerated rapidly, speeding away from Kame Island back toward the mainland. He quickly followed Chi-Chi's advice and held onto her gi tightly. As the speed continued to increase, Krillin shut his eyes in fear. After what felt like hours, he felt the cloud start to slow down. Opening his eyes, he looked down and saw a lush landscape with mountains and a desert in the distance.

"This is the edge of the Mount Paozu region," Chi-Chi explained, "it's a bit of a lawless zone, but it's probably the best place to start."

"Yeah, and then we just zoom right on back..." Krillin murmured under his breath, slipping a bit closer to Chi-Chi so that he could get a better look around, and moving his hands to grip the gi from the sides to compensate.

"Well, we kind of have to zoom back. I worry about leaving Kakarot by himself for too long," she explained. Suddenly, the cloud just stopped and Krillin fell forward. Once Krillin was sure he wasn't going to die, he let out a sigh of relief. But that relief turned to fear once he saw the look that Chi-Chi was giving him. It was at that moment he realized just where his hands had landed.

Before he could explain that it was an accident and that he was sorry, she screamed and punched him in the face, sending him flying off the cloud and through the air. As he lost consciousness, only one thought crossed his mind: _I absolutely_ _ **hate**_ _her._

 **-R &R-**

After punching Krillin through the air, Chi-Chi returned to her searching for a pretty girl for Master Roshi. _Why did I punch him? There was no way he did that on purpose! Now I'll have to go find him!_

As she flew around, she began to grow very bored. Sighing, she began to lightly sing the song that she had been listening to on the Walkman to herself.

" _All around me are familiar faces_

 _Worn out places, worn out faces_

 _Bright and early for their daily races_

 _Going nowhere, going nowhere_

 _Their tears are filling up their glasses_

 _No expression, no expression_

 _Hide my head, I want to drown my sorrow_

 _No tomorrow, no tomorrow_

 _And I find it kinda funny, I find it kinda sad_

 _The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had_

 _I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take-_ "

"GAAAH! SOMEONE HELP ME!" a voice screamed from somewhere below her. Chi-Chi looked down and saw a young woman standing with her back to a ravine wall with two Police Officers pointing their weapons at her. Chi-Chi sighed in resignation and flew straight down, bouncing off the Nimbus in front of the officers. She looked at the badges on the officers' uniforms, and found that she had hit the jackpot: Ox Kingdom Military Police uniforms!

Chi-Chi smiled brightly and waved to the Officers. "Good Day, Officers! May I inquire as to your names and ranks?"

The Officers frowned. "Little Girl, please," the one of the left, who she dubbed Officer 1, said, "we are currently trying to apprehend a dangerous criminal, I ask you to step out of the way."

Chi-Chi shook her head and pulled out her ID, showing it to the two officers. "I'm taking her with me. I have… business with her."

Officer 2 looked at her ID with worry, before dropping to his knees. "I'm sorry, Princess," he held out his pistol, "please, take my gun and shoot me for this dishonor!"

Chi-Chi shook her head. "No, no, you live and work to forgive yourself for this. You don't get the easy way out." The man nodded solemnly and turned around, heading back to the police cruiser with the other officer.

Smiling, Chi-Chi turned around and offered her hand to the blue-haired young woman. The woman nodded and took it as she lead her back to Nimbus, where she climbed on it without having to hold onto Chi-Chi at all. Slowly, Chi-Chi spiraled Nimbus into the air and into the direction she remembered Krillin flying in.

As Nimbus flew along, Chi-Chi turned around to the person she'd just picked up. "Hello there, Miss. I'm so sorry about earlier. What's your name?"

The woman smiled brightly. "No need to apologize. You saved me back there! My name is Launch."

"I'm Chi-Chi, the Princess of this Kingdom. I _would_ say Crown Princess, but I'm my father's only child or relative," Chi-Chi said, followed by a sigh, "the only thing I want to do is… protect my friends."

"You sound sad about something," Launch said, sounding concerned.

Chi-Chi nodded, "Yeah, one of my friends just found out that their life goal was pointless and that they were manipulated into wanting to do it."

Launch frowned, "That's so sad… I know some people are born with tragedy in their life, but that's..."

"I know… I know..." Chi-Chi replied. Looking down, she spotted a slightly off colour bit in the trees. Spiraling down, Chi-Chi giggled as she spotted Krillin, unconscious, hanging from a tree branch by his tunic. And he was completely uninjured to boot! After having Launch assist her in lowering him down and holding him for the flight, Chi-Chi turned Nimbus south and started back towards Kame Island.

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 **A/N: If anyone gets the reference I made in this chapter, I will legitimately do a happy dance. As always, thanks to Ranma-sensei for being my beta. Follow, Favorite, and _Review_. I'll see you all next week!**


	14. Turtle Training Begins

**A/N: I am still hoping that someone makes a TVTropes page for this one day, maybe when this arc finishes it'll have reached that critical mass. Anyways, enjoy the chapter!**

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The wind blew calmly across Kame Island as the entire group stood assembled on the beach. Chi-Chi stood calmly, with Launch on her left, Kakarot on her right, and Krillin on the other side of Launch.

"Alright, since we're all outside, I'll put my house into a capsule, then we can move," Master Roshi said. The pink house went up in a puff of smoke, and suddenly nothing was there. Roshi tenderly placed the large capsule in his case before pulling out a normal sized one. He threw that one at the water to reveal a simple motorboat. Everyone climbed in and Roshi sped off to the southeast.

As the boat went on, Chi-Chi turned to Kakarot, who had been chosen to sit in the middle. "You haven't been talking much, are you feeling okay?" she asked. Kakarot smiled lightly and looked back at her.

"I'm fine, really. I just don't have any input. Better to not say anything than just spew an unending barrage of pointless words," Kakarot stated.

" _If it is possible to cut a word, always cut it out_ ," Chi-Chi said. Kakarot blinked before turning to her.

"What's that one from?" he asked.

"It's from an essay my father read to me once. I don't remember the title," Chi-Chi replied. She watched the spray of the sea splash up from the boat, and the water rush by as they went along.

"I've always liked watching water move. It's just… something about it makes me feel much more at peace than usual. If I remember correctly, my family home had a river running next to it," Kakarot said quietly. Unlike Chi-Chi, he was facing the back of the boat, watching the displaced water behind them like a cat did a laser pointer.

"Opening up slowly to the girl, why Kakarot, aren't you the romantic one?" Chi-Chi teased. Kakarot rolled his eyes and went back to watching the water behind them.

"Bleh, gross! I think I'm gonna be sick," Krillin said, sticking out his tongue.

"Then maybe I should throw you overboard so we don't catch something from you," Kakarot said in complete deadpan. Chi-Chi did a double-take at what he'd just said, before sighing in relief. No, the poor boy hadn't fallen into depression -hopefully-, he was just being quiet. At least he was behaving, she'd rather not see him making a game out of how many people they can murder again; even though she totally beat him, 35-4. If only she could see how he would act… if only her visions were closer in time rather than being at some unspecified point in the future.

 _Actually, that's a good thing._

 _Fun, you're back. Explain._

 _Seeing the future is a Kanassan ability._ _They could years into the future, and they always wrote down what they saw. However, it's a double edged sword. You said you wished the visions were close in time? Kanassans had a bit of a curse to that ability- the only time you ever see that close into the future is if you are about to die._

 _Well, that sounds pleasant._

 _Quite. Now pay attention, the Daikyō boy is trying to get your attention._ Chi-Chi focused back on reality and turned to Kakarot.

"Yeah, what is it?" she asked.

"We've arrived at the new island," Kakarot said, pointing in front of the boat. Chi-Chi looked forward to see a large island with a smoking volcano. Master Roshi drove the boat up to the shore, before ordering them out and turning the boat back into a capsule. He then led them to a clearing around ten minutes from the beach, and unloaded his house from the capsule.

"So, anyone up for a quick lesson before dinner?" Roshi asked. All three of them rushed into a line in front of Roshi. Launch, for her part, yawned, causing a momentary panic with Krillin and Master Roshi, who ran and dove for cover. Chi-Chi stood and stared, while Kakarot sighed.

"Right," he said, "those weird metal things actually hurt you people."

"Kakarot," Chi-Chi said, "those are called bullets, and they are used to kill people."

"Yeah, I know, I know," Kakarot muttered, likely remembering what happened to Bulma.

Master Roshi cleared his throat to get everyone's attention yet again.

"Alright. Krillin, what is your experience with Martial Arts?" he asked.

"I studied for eight years at Orin Temple!" Krillin responded promptly.

"Very good, and I already know about you two," Roshi said, pointing to Kakarot and Chi-Chi, "now, before we do anything, I want to see what you've got." He pointed at a tree a little ways away. "That tree is 100 meters away," he dragged his foot along the ground to make a starting line, "I want you to run there as fast as you can."

Krillin immediately jogged up, bragging about how fast he was. Kakarot crouched down, grabbed a stick, and started drawing in the dirt. Chi-Chi walked over to the latter, barely paying attention to Krillin.

"What are you drawing there, Kakarot?" Chi-Chi asked.

"It's not drawing, it's writing," Kakarot explained. Chi-Chi looked carefully at what he'd drawn, and it looked nothing like anything she'd seen before. She looked at him and askance and he stood up. "I'll explain in a minute."

Looking up, Chi-Chi realized that Master Roshi had called up Kakarot to run next- apparently Krillin had run the 100 meters in 9.6 seconds, a new record for him. Kakarot walked up to the line and dashed forward, hitting the finish in 8.45 seconds. _Show off…_ Chi-Chi thought, about both of them. She stretched her legs and stepped up to the starting line.

Taking a deep breath, she let a small amount of power flow into her, focused it into her legs, and pushed forward. Feeling the wind rip through her hair and along her skin, she skidded to a stop when she reached the tree, having barely felt the passage of time at all.

"S-Six-point-eight-four seconds!" Master Roshi called. Krillin's jaw practically dropped to the ground, while Kakarot just sighed and nodded.

"H-How the hell did you do that?!" Krillin yelled.

"Well… I just focused ki into my legs and ran," Chi-Chi explained, as if it were so simple. Well, to her it was, and maybe to Kakarot it was, too, but Krillin probably was having trouble wrapping his head around the concept.

Master Roshi simply nodded. "Not bad, Chi-Chi, though you really should learn to run fast using just your own physical strength before boosting it with ki. Like so," Master Roshi tossed off his turtle shell, which hit the ground with a _**CRASH**_ , before handing the timer to Krillin as he stood in position. When Krillin gave the signal, Roshi dashed and zoomed passed Krillin.

"...Five-point-six seconds," Krillin said. Roshi shrugged and walked back over to his turtle shell.

"Not bad, I guess. I haven't run that way in years. Mind grabbing me a beer, one of you?" Roshi said.

"On it!" Krillin announced promptly as he ran into the house. Chi-Chi and Kakarot walked back over to where he'd been drawing/writing.

"So, what are you writing?" Chi-Chi asked. Kakarot just sighed.

"Just my name. I don't want to forget how to write it in our actual language, since Galactic Common is used here," he explained. She probably would have asked what the Saiyan language was like… but she really didn't care about it. If Kakarot wanted to keep it in his head, more power to him, but she didn't feel any kind of real connection to it. Earth was her planet, the only one she could really say was such, even if she felt a connection to her mother's planet, this was the only home she had left.

"But why didn't you just say that?" she asked. He stretched his arms up as he yawned.

"I like leaving people in suspense, it's fun," he said. The two suddenly turned their heads, hearing a loud scream from Krillin, running away from Blonde Launch, who was armed with a butcher's knife. Chi-Chi and Kakarot simply looked back at each other, smiled, and broke out laughing at their poor schoolmate's misfortune.

 **-R &R-**

Standing on the far left side of the group, Kakarot standing in between him and Chi-Chi, Krillin stood stiffly as he watched Master Roshi pick up a stone and draw his symbol on it.

"So… is this supposed to be Arts & Crafts?" Kakarot asked, only to get elbowed in the side by Chi-Chi.

"Focus, Kakarot," she said. Muttering something under his breath, he turned back to facing Master Roshi.

"No, this is not Arts & Crafts," Roshi said, as he spun his arm and threw it into off the cliff and into the jungle at the bottom. "Alright, I still got that, at least."

"So… are we throwing rocks?" Krillin asked.

"No… you are going to go and find the one I just threw. Anyone can throw a stone, or a punch, but finding someone else's takes intense concentration and perseverance. So, run along now. The only one of you that gets dinner is the one who brings back that stone- and if you don't have it back in half an hour, no one gets it!" Roshi said.

Krillin and his two classmates immediately turned and ran for the cliff, only to see that it was pretty much a straight down drop, with no real footholds.

"D-Damn it! There's no way down! We'll just have to go a-" he began, but was cut off by Kakarot just jumping off the cliff, Chi-Chi right behind him. "You idiots! Do you want to die?!"

"We'll be fine!" Chi-Chi called back up. The two swung off a few tree branches and dashed off into the woods in separate directions. After listening to his own heartbeat, Krillin dashed off to look for a way down. _How the hell will I ever find that stone?! I could always- no, I can't fake it! I don't know Master Roshi's handwriting, and he's too smart to fall for something so trivial!_

Several minutes later, Krillin found a spot that he could run down. Granted, he had to cross a precarious rope bridge that looked like it would fail any minute, but that was the price that one had to pay to train with the amazing Turtle Hermit. Well, it's supposed to be, but those other two didn't care, what with their just jumping off a cliff and all. Those two always seemed like they were to going to do that kissy stuff in movies that he hated.

As he was mulling this over, a tiger burst out of the brush and made a dive for him. Krillin jumped out of the way on reflex and recoiled back at the tiger, driving his elbow into the creature's neck. _Well, that was a close one,_ he thought. Suddenly, nearby, a triceratops stalked by, chasing some lesser beasts away with its might, shaking the ground with every step.

 _What the hell kind of jungle is this? Not one that I want to visit again, that's for sure!_ Krillin thought as he ran along.

"Yahoo! I'm gonna get supper!" Krillin heard a voice cheer, causing him to trip and fall. _Oh you have_ _ **got**_ _to be kidding me! There is no way I'm losing to those two again!_ Quickly hatching a plan, Krillin ran through the trees and saw Chi-Chi standing there, a huge smile on her face, and the stone in her right hand.

"How the hell did you find that, Chi-Chi?" Krillin asked.

"This? Kakarot gave it to me, said he didn't really feel like sticking around for dinner," Chi-Chi explained. Well, it certainly sounded like something that moody boy would say.

"Err… you sure that's the right one? I found a few that looked like it but didn't have the right handwriting," Krillin lied through his teeth.

Chi-Chi, unsuspecting, held it up so he could see the handwriting. "So, does this look correct?"

Krillin responded by grabbing the stone and shoving her roughly before running back towards the bridge as fast as he could.

"Oi! Give me back the stone you cheater!" she called after him. Krillin didn't even try to retort, he ran as fast as he could, just hoping to reach the damned bridge before she remembered that she was faster than him. Sure enough, he charged across the rope bridge and quickly slashed at the ropes with his hands, shredding them handily, and sending the now sobbing girl plummeting down into the ravine.

Despite feeling slightly guilty, he shrugged it off. Things happened, after all. While Chi-Chi was fast, it didn't seem like she could control herself enough to use that speed to catch him under pressure. If she died, she died, and if she didn't, oh well, he'd already be eating dinner by the time she made it back to Kame House. Krillin gave himself a light smile and began jogging back to the house at a leisurely pace. He'd made it barely 20 feet before the moody kid dropped from the tree branch in front of him.

"You have exactly ten seconds to give me the stone before I leave you dead on the jungle floor and tell Master Roshi how you died a tragic death via triceratops," Kakarot said. He didn't raise his voice, he didn't add any spin, he simply said it like an offer. One that Krillin was _**not**_ going to entertain; he was hungry, damn it, and he wasn't going to give the stone up to the girl that knocked him out over a mistake!

"I'm not just gonna let you walk all over me! You're not the strongest of us!" Krillin said, finding his courage. Kakarot simply threw out his hands like a scale and shook his head side to side.

"Yes, because you've demonstrated so much courage. You abused the trust of an eleven year old girl to steal a rock from her that would allow her to eat dinner," Kakarot said. He then returned his arms to his sides. "By the by, your ten seconds are up."

Kakarot suddenly dashed forward, planting his knee in Krillin's stomach and sending him flying back into a tree. Krillin hit his head on the bark, and while his ears rang and he felt liquid on his back, he pressed his feet against the trunk and jumped at Kakarot. For his part, Kakarot simply sidestepped and elbowed Krillin the in back, letting him smash into the ground with his own momentum.

Not leaving him alone for a moment, Kakarot turned Krillin over and started raining blows down onto his body and face. Krillin was fairly certain that if he had a nose, it would be broken in several places by this point, and bleeding severely, just like his lips were. By the time Kakarot grabbed his tunic and hauled him up, he barely felt the pain of the blows anymore, only the ringing in his ears.

"You really should have just handed the stone over," Kakarot said, almost in a chastising way. Krillin didn't know what to think, anymore. Kakarot simply reached his other hand for Krillin's throat. Krillin closed his eyes, knowing this was the end of the road for him. _I really should have either taken the offer or just tried to find something to eat in the jungle. Better than being murdered here by the moody kid._

Vaguely, Krillin heard a voice from behind Kakarot, followed by a sigh and Krillin being thrown to the ground. After taking a minute to let his ears stop ringing, he looked around to see that his assailant was gone without a trace besides the obvious signs of a struggle. Stumbling to his feet, Krillin slowly made his way out of the jungle, gritting his teeth to endure the pain. He kept going cross-eyed as he walked, and honestly wanted nothing more than to go to sleep. Nonetheless, he endured, finally making it back to Kame House, where Master Roshi waited patiently.

"Masssterrr Rrrosshhhiiii!" Krillin slurred, "I fooound the stooone!" He stumbled to Roshi and pressed the stone into his hands, before falling on his rump.

"Krillin, what happened to you down there? I'm glad you got the stone, but it looks like you lost a fight with a tiger and it felt too sorry for you to eat you," Roshi said, in a bit of a sad tone.

"More like its girlfriend felt too sorry for me to let it rip me limb from limb," Krillin said, shaking his head as his focus returned to him, "Master, Kakarot is both dangerous and insane. We got into a fight over the stone and he nearly killed me. I don't know for sure, but I'm pretty sure I only survived because Chi-Chi would rather not have seen my blood on his hands."

"...I see. Well, I'll make sure to give Kakarot a stern talking to when he gets back, but just remember that a fight has two people. Don't pick fights with your fellow students in the future. Now come on, let's go have dinner," Roshi said. Krillin stood up carefully and walked into the house, wondering if it was really worth it. Of course, when he woke up the next morning ill since Launch decided it would be fun to cook blowfish for dinner, he decided the answer was a true and resolute no.

 **-R &R-**

Meanwhile, Kakarot was sitting on a log around a campfire, cooking a deer he had killed about an hour previous. Chi-Chi was placing some more kindling on said fire. As he divided it up into portions for the two of them to eat, he looked over at her.

"Why did you stop me from killing Krillin?" he asked, not understanding why she would stop him after he tried to kill her by dropping her into a ravine.

"Because, despite his actions, I don't think he deserved death," Chi-Chi walked up to him and took one of his hands in her own two, "I appreciate the willingness to protect me, though."

Finishing dividing up the venison and handing Chi-Chi her portion, the two stared up at the stars.

"Out of curiosity," Chi-Chi began, "where was the planet you and my mother were born on?"

Kakarot frowned and searched the constellations, trying to remember the star chart that had been engraved into his mind. After searching the depths of his mind, he pointed at a rather bright star in the middle of a group that made almost a plate looking design.

"That's where our planet was. It's a binary star system, which is why it looks so bright," Kakarot explained.

Chi-Chi finished eating and curled up on the ground. "That's cool. Thanks for sharing, Kakarot," she said, before going to sleep. Kakarot smiled down at the girl.

"Anytime, Chi-Chi, anytime," he said, more to himself than her. Sliding down from the log, he laid down a short distance away from her, and joined in her slumber.

* * *

 **A/N: Follow, Favourite, and _Review_! Especially that last one! See you all next week!**


	15. Underground Training

**A/N: We've been focusing a lot on Chi-Chi and Kakarot lately- and while the response to those two is overwhelmingly positive... here's a break from them to see what the others are doing!**

* * *

The punch came from the right. Instinctively, Yamcha deflected the punch and kicked the man in the side, knocking him to the ground and out of the fight. "Anyone else interested in a fight?" he asked. No one spoke up. He'd been wandering around fighting different people for over a month, sharpening his skills in combat and learning new skills to enhance his own. Though, few people tried to challenge him outright anymore, so he'd always have to move on. Thankfully, with peace having been declared between the Red Ribbon Army and the World Government, they could travel freely.

As if on cue, a large muscled man with a sharp tan and a buzz cut stood up and walked over to Yamcha, smoking his cigar all the while. "Yeah, okay," he said, reaching into his pocket and handing Yamcha a card, "be there at 19:00, we have a few fights there tonight. And be discreet, we don't want any issues with the police." The man then turned and walked out of the pub, leaving Yamcha behind with most of the patrons staring at their betting cards.

Shrugging, Yamcha walked over to where Bulma and Puar were waiting for him. Puar returned to Yamcha's shoulder, while Bulma gave him a kiss in congratulations.

"Congratulations on another fight won, Yamcha! Now then, where to?" Bulma said.

"We wait here until 7, then we head to the location here, I got offered a fight," Yamcha explained, handing her the card. Bulma blinked and shook her head.

"No clue where that is, I suppose we could-" she began, but was interrupted when someone ran up to Yamcha.

"You were so cool!" a voice shouted. Yamcha turned around to see a short boy in a school uniform with short, curly black hair and deep blue eyes looking at him in awe. Yamcha scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Thanks, kid. I'm glad you think so!" Yamcha said. The boy nodded his head rapidly.

"It's not just that, it's the technique that you used. I could see at least five different styles, yet you consistently managed to make it flow perfectly!" the boy said. "Hey, I know, could I try fighting you?"

Yamcha did a double take, before sighing. "Kid, unless you have a brown monkey tail, you don't wanna try fighting me," Yamcha said.

The boy shrugged, "I've trained with someone with a brown monkey tail, it should count."

Yamcha blinked rapidly, then slumped his shoulders, "Fine, but if you get hurt, I don't want the bill."

"That's fine! I just wanna have fun here!" the boy cheered, running into the fighting ring. Bulma lightly pushed Yamcha in after him, Puar jumped back over to Bulma's shoulder, and the referee sweatdropped, before closing the ring's doors.

The boy stretched his legs and took off his jacket and tie, laying them on the edge of the arena, leaving only his white dress shirt, black dress pants, and shined shoes. "I wish I had time to change into my normal fighting clothes, but it won't affect all that much," the boy said, rolling up his sleeves carefully.

Yamcha cracked his knuckles, "Just because you're familiar with Kakarot doesn't mean you can fight me at full strength."

"Kaka-what?" the boy asked. Before Yamcha could respond, the referee called the match to start.

The boy charged and smashed his fist into Yamcha's arm. Wincing at the shocking amount of pain, Yamcha struck the boy with other palm. The boy stumbled back but managed to keep his feet. Looking dead on at Yamcha, the boy ran up to him and threw a barrage of punches. Surprised, Yamcha turn the tables, but the boy in front of him matched him almost blow for blow.

Hoping to end it quickly, Yamcha punched forward with all his might, only to be met head on by the boy's fist. However, even with the boy's skill, Yamcha's strength proved the better, and the boys arm snapped back with a crack and Yamcha ended the fight by sweeping the boy's feet out from under him, sending him to the dirt on his rump.

"MARCUS!" a loud male voice called. The boy's eyes widened as he scrambled to his feet. Yamcha looked out of the ring to see a man in a three piece suit, with a suitcase in one hand and a bowler hat under one arm. As the boy, Marcus, scrambled to throw his jacket back on, as the man strode over to the door of the ring.

"Marcus, you're supposed to be out finding yourself a Middle School to go to!" the man growled.

"I am! Or, I was! I just got sidetracked," Marcus replied, waving his arms around, "but I found the person I was looking for! He'll be here in the city tonight! I'll get into a boarding school and won't bother you with this anymore!"

"See that you do, I'm sick and tired of this. Now go home and have your clothes sent to the cleaners. No son of mine will have that kind of mess on his school uniform," the man replied, putting his hat back on and strolling out of the pub. Marcus visibly rolled his eyes as he put his tie back on.

"Fuck him," he spat out, "I'm going to boarding school _because_ I can't stand this anymore." Marcus straightened his tie and buttoned his jacket. "If you come back here at 6:15, I'll show you where the place on that card is," he pointed at the card in Yamcha's hand, before spinning and jogging out of the pub.

 **-R &R-**

Following Marcus' instructions, Yamcha, Bulma, and Puar all waited calmly outside the pub. At 6:15 sharp, the boy walked around the corner wearing a white gi with a black obi. He was closely followed by a girl with neck length straight black hair in the same outfit.

"This is my friend Micaela. Now follow me, it's a bit of a doozy to find that building," Marcus said, walking up the road. Yamcha and the rest followed him through all the winding streets and back alleys of Orange Star City. Finally, after rounding a corner, they arrived at an old warehouse with a large red "NO TRESPASSING" sign on the front, written in both Western and Eastern.

The building was seemingly in the perfect location- out of the way of everything, and conveniently obscured by most buildings around it, and the only way in was through a back alley, since the road that led to it had a collapsed bridge just outside of it that hadn't even started to be repaired. The group of five walked over to the entrance, and stopped when they saw two huge men with guns at their sides. The two men looked at them, then the one on the right spoke.

"You here for the fight?" all of them nodded. The men stepped to the side. "I hope you can handle it. This ain't a playground here, this is the real shit."

"I got it," Yamcha said. He wasn't going to deny that he was nervous about this, but his streak was going great so far, and so long as he didn't get overconfident or in over his head, it seemed like he could continue it. What really surprised him was Marcus' demeanor.

"Don't look at me like that, I'm here to fight someone, too. Probably the most fun I'll get for the rest of the year," Marcus said. They walked until they reached the door, where a third guy with a metal pipe at his side nodded at them and pulled open the warehouse door. The metal groaned loudly until it opened completely. Yamcha closed his eyes and shook his head to ensure he wasn't seeing things.

Inside was a bunch of people sitting on makeshift bleachers and cheering as a guy was slammed into a shoulder-high fence surrounding a ring of white stone, before being picked up and thrown out of it, falling the six feet to the concrete ground and landing on his head with a sickening **CRUNCH**.

"Huh," Micaela said, "the fence is smaller than it was last time I was here, maybe they enjoy people getting thrown over it?" The shirtless guy the in ring cracked his knuckles and grinned.

"Anyone else?! Anyone else feel like dying at my fist?!" he screamed, to the cheers of the entire crowd.

"That's your fight," Marcus said, shoving Yamcha up, next to the ring. The announcer looked at him, nodded, then had a staircase moved up for him to walk up, before opening the cage of fences for him to walk through.

"Well, what do you know? Someone who actually looks like they can fight. I hope you give me a better fight than the rest of the sissies that showed up here tonight," the man said.

"Name's Yamcha. May I at least have the pleasure of knowing your name?" Yamcha asked, getting into position.

"Qing, if you really must know," he said, getting into his own position, "Qing of the Crane School of Martial Arts."

 **-R &R-**

"Begin!" the announcer called. As soon as the words left his mouth, Qing shot forward, determined to end the fight with Yamcha just as quickly as he had the rest. Those expectations were swiftly dashed, however, as Yamcha slid out of the way and delivered a kick to Qing's back, taking advantage of the man's own momentum. _Learned that one from Kakarot,_ Yamcha thought. Qing stumbled into the fence, before spinning around.

"Damn, kid. Maybe you are better than the rest," Qing said, charging. Yamcha charged, too, and they crashed in the centre of the ring. Digging their heels in, both sides tried to over power the other with sheer force from their legs. Qing gave some ground, only for Yamcha to stumble and be pushed back by Qing. Both tried to use their free hand to punch, but were repelled by the other each time.

Recognizing the stalemate, Yamcha broke away and jumped back. Qing, with the loss of the thing he was pushing against, stumbled forward. Yamcha grinned and drove a kick upward, sending Qing flying back through the air. As Yamcha smiled in victory, a shot of fear went though him. Qing righted himself in midair and faced upright, then _floated_ straight up into the air until he was just floating above the audience and glaring down at Yamcha.

"I have to say, I wasn't expecting that. I'm actually having to take this seriously," Qing called down, before putting one hand over his head.

 _Wait, what is he going to-_ Yamcha thought, but then his thoughts were silenced with one word from Qing.

"Dodonpa!" he called, throwing his hand down with two fingers extending. A focused yellow beam shot from his hands and down towards Yamcha. Yamcha quickly back flipped, the yellow beam leaving a crack in the arena as it barely missed him. Yamcha landed gracefully back on his feet and glared up at Qing.

"What the hell are you thinking?! There's an audience here!" Yamcha said. Qing narrowed his eyes.

"You don't say," Qing replied, looking down at the audience, specifically where the rest of Yamcha's group was. He pointed his fingers straight at them. "Dodonpa!" The beam shot from his fingertips down at the audience. _This is it, bandit. Either block the attack and be disqualified, or don't block it and watch your companions die!_

Glaring up at him, Micaela jumped into the air straight at the beam… and backhanded it, curving it through the air and into the wall of the warehouse. _Weak,_ she thought tersely, dropping back to the ground with crossed arms, ignoring the tingling in her hand. Qing stared in disbelief, missing Yamcha climbing up on top of the fence. By the time he did notice, Yamcha had already leaped and was even with him in the air.

Clasping his hands together, Yamcha brought them down hard on Qing's neck, sending him crashing to the ground before he had time to recover. He hit the ground in a heap, while Yamcha came down next to the audience stands. As Yamcha hit the ground, he winced. _Note to self, don't do Superhero Landing, it_ _ **really**_ _strains the knees._

The announcer grabbed out his mic. "Err… Yamcha the Desert Bandit is victorious," he said, a bit nonplussed. The audience was a bit quiet. Fuming, Bulma marched up and snatched the mic.

"ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!" she screamed into it. Dead silence. Bulma blushed and handed the mic back to the announcer, who swiped it back, while muttering 'women,' under his breath. Then, one man stood up and started clapping. Then another. Within 30 seconds, the entire room was clapping for Yamcha's victory.

Yamcha strolled up to Bulma, wrapped her in a hug and gave her a kiss. Both Marcus and Micaela stuck out their tongues with a 'Bleh' sound in response. Marcus then turned and ran over to the other side of the room and began speaking with a man with a funny bird hat and sunglasses. After a few minutes of back and forth, he turned and walked into the ring, followed by a young man about Yamcha's age, with a bald head and… three eyes. Yamcha rubbed his own to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Nope, that guy definitely had three eyes.

Bulma, however, was too busy trying to get him to talk about how the fight had gone for him to pay much attention to Marcus' fight. By the time he had gone back to paying attention, the fight was already over, and the three eyed guy had been thrown out of the ring. Marcus walked out of the ring with a smug smile on his face, before giving Yamcha the victory sign.

"I got myself a school. You'll be coming too, Micaela!" he said. Micaela jumped in the air and cheered, while Yamcha smiled and ruffled the kid's hair.

"Train well, Marcus. I hope to see you one of these days at the Tenkaichi Budokai," he said. Marcus nodded furiously.

"I will. I'll become the World Martial Arts Champion and make my parents acknowledge me! And Yamcha, please," he said, brushing his air back, "just call me Mark. Most people do." Yamcha nodded and shook the boy's hand, before turning and walking out of the building with Bulma and Puar. He couldn't believe it! He'd just beaten a person who seemed to be the top student of the Crane School, the main rival to Master Roshi's Turtle School! Bulma was wrapped around his left arm smiling, and Yamcha smiled too. Things were finally looking up. He'd go to the Tenkaichi Budokai and earn a good name and reputation for himself! He might not win, but at least he could make it to the quarter-finals. Hopefully no one would deny him that much.

* * *

 **A/N: Follow, Favourite, and _Review_! (Especially that last one.) See you all next week!**


	16. Turtle Training from Hell

**A/N: Yeah, I know, I took a week off, sorry, had a week full of tests at school. Here's a chapter for you to enjoy!**

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Hearing the birds chirp, Chi-Chi carefully opened her eyes to the new day, yawning all the while. It was pretty early, but it had also been about three days since she'd last saw the others, and it was high time to be heading back. Standing up and stretching, she nudged Kakarot with her foot to wake him up. The boy let out a small yawn and slowly got himself up.

"Why are we up so early, Chiites?" Kakarot asked. Looking away quickly, she smiled lightly. Kakarot had coined that nickname for her the previous day, and it always made her heart flutter lightly whenever he used it. Quickly refocusing on the situation at hand, she turned back to him.

"We really need to head back to Master Roshi's house," she said, "we've been gone for long enough."

"Do we have to?" Kakarot whined. "If I wanted to be around a bunch of weaklings I would have just gone with Bulma!"

"Yes, we do," she replied, "we came here to get stronger, and that's what we'll do. We can't just fight on instinct and expect to defeat all that come before us! We need refinement and technique!" With a sigh, Kakarot nodded in agreement, more than likely begrudging. Smiling, Chi-Chi turned to the sky and cupped her hands over her mouth. "NIMBUS!" she called. Dutifully, the yellow cloud dropped from the sky and stopped next to her. She climbed onto the cloud and helped Kakarot climb on after, then pointed one finger in the direction of Kame House. "Nimbus, soar!"

The cloud sped off, shooting out of the treeline and into the air above the island. After circling around the volcano, she brought the cloud down in front of the porch of Kame House. Kakarot hopped off first, and Chi-Chi hopped off afterwards.

"Thanks, Nimbus!" she said cheerily. The cloud spun lightly before speeding off back into the air. Trotting up, Chi-Chi rang the doorbell. After a few minutes of scuffling, the door opened to reveal Krillin, wearing pyjamas and rubbing his eyes. Upon seeing them, he shook his head, before screaming and slamming the door in their face as footsteps retreated into the house.

Chi-Chi and Kakarot both sighed. Within a minute, loud footsteps came running back to the door and Master Roshi opened it, rubbing his eyes with his sunglasses on his forehead, before placing them back down.

"Oh," he said, "you two. So that's why Krillin came in screaming." He shook his head in resignation. "Well, just stay out there for a minute, I'll be out soon."

 **-R &R-**

Ten minutes later, Master Roshi and Krillin came out of the house, completely dressed, the latter in his gi, and the former in a nice shirt and pants. After having them line up, with Krillin specifically standing several feet away from Chi-Chi and especially Kakarot, Roshi turned to face them from a short distance away.

"Now," Roshi said, "I should remind you. The point of martial arts is not to impress those of the opposite sex. Or the same if you swing that way, but that's beside the point! The point is to win in battles that you face! Studying this will make not only your body healthier but also relax your spirit and allow you to live a happier life!" Roshi took a deep breath. "But if you or another is ever threatened by someone in an unjust way, you must strike them down!" He looked at the three of them. "Do you three understand what I'm saying."

"Yes, Master!" Krillin said.

"Uh-huh, Master Roshi!" Chi-Chi said, cheery as ever.

"Ugh, that sounds so boring! But yes, I get the point," Kakarot said.

"Well, too bad. It may sound boring, but it's the most important lesson I can give you before we start training. Now, are you sure you all will be able to handle the rigors of my training schedule?"

"...Yes." Kakarot and Chi-Chi chorused, unamused.

"Of course!" Krillin followed up with.

"Very well, then let us begin," Roshi said, turning away, "with a nice jog! Follow me!"

 **-R &R-**

As they began jogging, Krillin let himself relax slightly. He'd expected the training to be difficult, but he hadn't even broken a sweat yet. While the two crazies behind him were… playing some kind of game? He couldn't tell, they kept randomly stopping and putting out their arm, which the other would avoid; it kept them in the back, but they were still keeping pace with him and Master Roshi.

Before long, they'd jogged into the nearby town and they ran to a large building, which Krillin instantly deduced to be a milk factory. Master Roshi put out his staff and ordered them to stop running.

"Good morning! I am Master Roshi, I called yesterday," he said to a cow that was setting out boxes that contained milk bottles.

"Ah! Good to see you! Thank you so much!" The cow replied. He pulled out a map. "This is the path I usually-"

As the cow explained to Master Roshi whatever was going on, Krillin closed his eyes, summoned up his courage, took a deep breath, and walked over to Kakarot and Chi-Chi. "So..." he began, as they turned their heads to him, "what was that thing you guys were doing on the way here?"

Kakarot locked his lands behind him and rocked on his feet, "It's a children's exercise where I'm from. It teaches you to be pay attention when running." Krillin blinked. That was… actually rather smart. And yet he'd never heard of that exercise in the history of the world.

"I've never heard of that before, is your culture rural and isolated or something?" Krillin asked, genuinely curious. Immediately Kakarot's face dropped and he looked away.

"I guess you could have said that… when they were alive," Kakarot said. Krillin took a step forward and made to apologize, but Chi-Chi put her hand out and shook her head, before wrapping her arm around Kakarot's shoulder and whispering something in his ear, to which he replied by nodding.

"I know, I know, Chiites. I'm good," Kakarot muttered. Krillin's eyebrows perked up at the pet name, but Roshi interrupted his train of though.

"Alright, now pick up a crate, we're delivering milk!"

 **-R &R-**

The first few kilometers weren't so bad, but as they went on, Krillin's arms began to feel like jelly and his legs were barely responsive. The other two were ahead of him and keeping up with Master Roshi as they zipped back and forth between the treeline. In an effort to catch up, Krillin had begun skipping up the middle of the path, but Chi-Chi tattled and he had to run all the way back and start again, while zigzagging.

Then, when Krillin thought it couldn't possibly get any worse, the universe kicked him while he was down as their next destination was at the top of a mountain, which Master Roshi described as 'a few stairs.'

"Master Roshi! Why does this qualify as training?" Krillin asked as they reached the halfway point of the mountain.

"Oh, hush! I once climbed up a tower so tall that it took me two days to reach the top, and I had to hold on the entire way! And I was all the better for it," Roshi snapped as they continued climbing. Slowly, Krillin fell more and more behind, until he reached the top and the two crazies were chatting with Master Roshi as he ran up to the box and placed the milk bottle into it while taking out the empty one. As he walked over to the others, a monk walked out and bowed to them.

"Good morning. How are you all today?" the monk asked. Chi-Chi trotted up and bowed back.

"Very well. How are you this morning?" she said.

"Very well, thank you very much for bringing the milk all the way up here," the monk replied. He looked at Master Roshi and nodded. "My, my, it's been ages since you've trained students, Master Roshi. I was but a small child last time you had students here."

"Indeed, you were," Roshi confirmed.

"How's their training coming?"

"We've barely started, but they all have potential."

Krillin looked over at Kakarot and Chi-Chi, who were looking at each other with greatly satisfied smirks.

"In fact," Roshi continued, "if they train hard for the next eight or so months, they should be ready to be entered into the tournament."

"Hmm? You'd let them enter the Tenkaichi Budokai?" The monk asked. Krillin stopped in his tracks and his mind went blank, as he focused in on those last two words.

"N-No way!" he stuttered, "the Tenkaichi Budokai?! You can't be serious!"

"Oh, I certainly am," Roshi replied.

"...what's the Tenkaichi Budokai?" Kakarot asked.

"The Tenkaichi Budokai, or the _World Martial Arts Tournament_ as they call it in the West," Krillin shuddered, "is the-" he stopped as he tried to find the right word, but Chi-Chi finished his thought.

"It's the quinquennial gathering of the best martial artists in the world at Papaya Island. Everyone competes in the hopes of winning, afterwards they gain Ƶ500,000 and the title of 'Number One under the Heavens,'" she said.

"That… actually sounds like a lot of fun," Kakarot said, his mouth perking up to a light smile for the first time since Krillin met him.

"Quite, but you three will have to train hard to get me to enter you," Roshi said, "but you three will not be aiming for the championship! For now, you should just train to be able to enter at all, and maybe you can earn a spot in the quarter-finals if you do well." Roshi picked up his staff. "Now, we should be continuing our delivery. Let's get a move on!"

From the mountain, the three crossed a precarious log, a river, a large area of a quicksand-like substance, and got chased around by a dinosaur; finally, they climbed down a massive cliff that led to the main plains of the island- from there it was a simple jog back to the house. After having them stack the boxes of empty milk bottles, Roshi lined them up again.

"Great job! This will be your early morning training every single day for the next eight months!" Roshi said. All three of them were panting in exhaustion, and Krillin felt like his chest wanted to murder him; but, at least it was finally over. "Now, let's begin with our mid-morning training!" All three of them groaned loudly.

 **-R &R-**

Chi-Chi hit her head on her hand once she saw what Master Roshi had planned for them. Oh sure, her father had told her that the training involved a lot of things that most people would find boring, but she was expecting something along the lines of 'wax on, wax off,' not 'plow this entire field with your bare hands as training- hope your fingernails make it through the ordeal!'

Thankfully, both hers' and Kakarot's fingernails survived that, one of the few times she was thankful for Saiyan biology. Krillin, unfortunately, was not nearly as lucky, his hands were bruised, bleeding, and his fingernails were practically non-existent.

"That sure took you three a long time," Roshi said, sitting on a rock and smoking a pipe, "looks like breakfast will be late today. Come along, now." Master Roshi took the three of them into town and bought them breakfast. Though, Roshi specifically ordered what each of them would be eating.

"Getting stronger also requires the right foods! I will set the diets for each of us, and you'll need plenty of food to do the rest of this training," he informed them. After the morning she'd had, part of her finally cracked and she finished her entire meal extremely quickly, much to Krillin's amazement, Master Roshi's bemusement, and Kakarot's huge smile.

After breakfast, they all returned to the house for… schooling. Completely normal schooling, in subjects like Language and Maths. That last one quite annoyed Chi-Chi, as Krillin was about normal for his age- having not even started pre-algebra before coming to Kame House. Chi-Chi had been taught by private tutors her entire life and never really had taken breaks from it-

And so, after listening to Master Roshi explain what integers were to Krillin for about 5 minutes, Chi-Chi pulled a capsule out of her pocket and opened it, revealing a bag filled with her previous work on Maths prior to her leaving home. Pulling out her last paper, she turned to face Kakarot.

"What is the limit of three x squared minus six x plus eight all over two x squared minus one when x approaches infinity?" Chi-Chi asked.

"Three over two," he answered, "simple calculus." After blinking in confusion, Krillin dropped his jaw. "How old are you?!" he asked, stunned.

"Twelve," Kakarot said, "and she's eleven."

From that point, she and Kakarot were exempted from the math lessons, but still had to join Krillin for Language, which wasn't so bad, as they could all read the Western Tongue and could read the Eastern one well enough. Once they finished with those at 12:30, they all set up hammocks and went to sleep for an hour, which was marked with a very loud alarm.

After getting their bearings, Master Roshi brought them to a construction site, where they had to help dig out an area to place a foundation down. At least this time they were allowed use tools and wheelbarrows. For around 2 hours, they ran around, moving rocks and dirt to create a clear foundation.

When that was done for the day, Roshi dragged them off to a lake and had them swim ten laps… ignoring the fact that there was a shark in the lake that chased them while doing so and almost ate them several times, it was the easiest one, at least in her humble opinion. Chi-Chi was just happy to have the sweat off her body- which was then swiftly reapplied when he had them dodge a bunch of swarming bees. Far easier said than done, as all three came away with stings up and down their bodies. At least bee stings weren't really painful, just irritating.

When they finally returned to Kame House, the sun was about to go down. Heaving with their hands on their knees, Chi-Chi asked a very simple question, "Is it going to be this hard every day?"

Master Roshi giggled and shook his head. Chi-Chi was relieved, but that relief turned to horror as he dragged out 3 large turtle shells like his own, "Nope. It'll be harder, as you'll be wearing these 23 kilo turtle shells as you do it!" One again, Chi-Chi felt her hand hit her face. She looked sideways at Kakarot.

"This was your idea, may I remind you," she said. He put his hands behind his head and smiled.

"I don't see the issue. I'd honestly rather have 350 kilos, personally," Kakarot said.

 **-R &R-**

Krillin stood, processing what Kakarot had just said, before reacting accordingly, "...why?!" he shrieked, freaking out that Master Roshi would accept the suggestion.

"Because, that's what I would weight if I were back home right now," Kakarot replied. Krillin stared at him for a few seconds, before something snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Kakarot, what did I say about silly and out there ideas?" Chi-Chi said.

"That they are to be pursued with every fibre of my being, as no idea is too far out there to be true," he replied, the smile never leaving his face.

"That's it!" she turned and swung at the palm tree-haired boy with her fist. Kakarot stepped out of the way, only for her to catch herself and deliver a roundhouse kick to his gut, sending him flying across the plain. She quickly dashed off in that direction.

Krillin made to go after them, but was stopped by Master Roshi. "Just let them do that. I saw the look on their faces, they're not actually trying to hurt each other. If anything, it's just two children play-fighting… just larger in scope." Nodding his head, Krillin just stared in the direction the other two had gone, before going inside.

Krillin sat around for nearly an hour and a half before the other two returned, bruised and covered in dirt, but laughing and smiling like they usually did. Roshi made both of them go and clean up, but they did so without complaining until they joined Krillin and Roshi for a nice dinner that Launch had been kind enough to make for them.

 **-** **R &R-**

For the next eight months, the daily routine repeated, but after the first few weeks, Master Roshi stopped joining them and just left them to run the gauntlet on their own. Slowly, they completed the training faster and faster, and were given harder and harder tasks to do so as to make up for it. However, as night time happened, Kakarot began taking Chi-Chi out to the ocean to practice their Kamehameha, since Krillin didn't know it and they didn't want to make him feel any worse. Krillin at least was starting to get along better with Kakarot, not so much with Chi-Chi, who kept shooting those efforts in the foot even when she tried.

Time continued to fly, Master Roshi even giving them heavier turtle shells for the final stretch of training, until finally, the day of the Tenkaichi Budokai arrived. Master Roshi had them change into nice outfits, with Kakarot and Krillin wearing suits and hats, and Chi-Chi wearing a nice dress. All three were driven by Roshi to the airport, Launch being left behind to guard the house, and they boarded the plane to fly to Papaya Island. Despite themselves, all were extremely happy. They were strong enough to be registered for the tournament, and with some luck, they'd even make it to the quarter-finals and international television!

* * *

 **A/N: Hope you enjoyed that chapter! Make sure to Follow, Favourite, and _R_ _eview_ (especially that last one), and I'll see you (hopefully, remember to follow) next week for another chapter!**


	17. Preliminary Matches

**A/N: Sorry for taking a while! Also, this is unbeta'd, my beta had to leave due to RL, so if anyone is interested, I'd appreciate it!**

* * *

After making their way through the airport terminals, the entire group fit into a taxi cab, which drove them to a large temple with people gathering outside of it, and long lines of people. All of them looked upon the temple in awe, but none more so than Chi-Chi, who had wanted to come here her entire life. _Mom told me that she'd bring me here to watch if I trained hard. Now I'm going to fight here. If I can just make it to the quarter-finals, I'll be satisfied._ She shook her head to clear it, then looked at her fellow students. Krillin was staring around in a stupor, while Kakarot seemed to be looking for something very specific. Then, the boy's eyes stopped, and he gasped.

Immediately, he rushed off into the crowd. She tried to follow him with her eyes, but lost sight of him within a few minutes.

"Alright, children, we're al- wait, where's Kakarot?" Roshi asked.

"He ran off into the crowd, I think he saw something," Krillin answered.

"Well, that's not very good, I need to know how he spells his name, and in which script," Roshi muttered, holding a piece of paper in his hand. Before he could do anything, Chi-Chi snatched the paper and wrote Kakarot's name carefully, including the furigana for his family name.

 _大根_ _(_ _きょう_ _)_ _カカロット_

"That is some… strange pronunciation there," Roshi said.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Chi-Chi muttered.

 **-R &R-**

Rushing through the crowd, Kakarot weaved left and right around the crowd of people that had come to watch. Left and right he weaved until he finally reached what he'd seen, standing slightly off to the side of a concession stand. Kakarot smiled as he cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Bulma!" he called to the girl. Bulma, who had been eating something while trying to fend off some kind of flatterers, immediately jerked her head in his direction. A wide smile broke across her face as she ran over to him, knelt down, and hugged him.

"Oh Kakarot!" she pulled back, picked him up under his arms and held him up in the air, spinning him around. "It's so good to see you again!"

He raised an eyebrow. "What was that you always said about being dramatic?"

"Oh hush, I'm trying to enjoy the moment," she replied. She placed him back down on the ground gingerly. Kakarot nodded, before remembering something rather important.

"Oh… by the way, I never apologized for-"

Bulma cut him off, "Don't worry about it, it's water under the bridge." Kakarot nodded in agreement.

"Have your injuries healed?" Kakarot asked. She looked side-eye at him, before unwrapping the fabric she had on her right arm to show a jagged scar.

"That's a reminder of our adventure together, and the nice one I have on my side from the gunshot," she explained.

Kakarot shrugged, "I think it enhances your features, personally." _Crap, that didn't sound the way I meant it._ Bulma giggled at it.

"Right, alien. Your race probably has much different standards to us, huh?" Bulma asked. Kakarot simply nodded.

"Bulma!" another voice called. Quickly turning, Chi-Chi forced her way around someone and ran up to glomp Bulma.

"Oh my," she laughed, "hi Chi-Chi." Chi-Chi let go of her and dropped to the ground with a huge grin on her face. "Come on, you two, I'll buy you ice cream and you can explain what's happened with you two." Kakarot was hesitant at first, but it was Bulma, she would never do anything to hurt him.

The three sat around a small picnic table, eating their ice cream and talking about what they'd been doing- Kakarot and Chi-Chi with their ridiculous training, and Bulma following Yamcha around on his own training.

"So me, Chiites, and Yamcha are all entering the Tenkaichi Budokai? Awesome!" Kakarot cheered, before grabbing the trash and running over to the bin to toss it out.

Bulma just looked at Chi-Chi, "Cheats?"

"Chiites. Kakarot came up with the nickname during our training," Chi-Chi explained.

"I think it's adorable. Mind if I use it?" Bulma asked.

"You? I don't mind. No one else but you two, though," she said, stretching. Kakarot jogged back over to them and they sat around laughing for a while longer until they decided it was time to head back to Master Roshi. Waving goodbye to Bulma, the two tracked down Master Roshi and Krillin not far from the registration point.

"Well, good that you two made it, come on then, the sun is going down, we ought to check into our hotel room and get a good night's rest before the tourney tomorrow," Roshi said, to the agreement of all three of his pupils.

 **-R &R-**

Chi-Chi shot up out of bed, sweating profusely and panting, pain shooting up and down her body. She looked around rapidly, sunlight was peeking in through the windows, meaning it was nearly time to get up. Almost instantly, Kakarot was up with an arm around her and his hands on her shoulders.

"What's wrong, Chiites?" he whispered.

"It hurts," she replied.

"What does?" he asked. She rubbed the lower part of her back in response. Nodding, Kakarot slid off his futon and tugged Chi-Chi toward the bathroom.

"What's wrong with me?" she asked.

"Nothing, just lightly rub above where it hurts the most, you'll see what I mean," he whispered, before closing the door on her lightly. Following his advice, she rubbed lightly at the base of her spine. At first, nothing happened, but slowly, the pressure went away, and then it just vanished altogether. In fact, she felt really good after the pressure was off, yet she couldn't tell why. The bathroom's mirror was being replaced due to Kakarot throwing something at it, so she couldn't just look in there.

After making sure her clothes worked right, she opened the door to see Kakarot sitting outside cross-legged. Upon seeing her, he stood up with a smile on his face.

"You feel better?" Kakarot asked. Chi-Chi nodded.

"Yes, but I don't get why," she replied. Kakarot tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"You don't?" he said.

"No… why would I?" Chi-Chi asked, before feeling something touch her head. Shocked, she looked up. "Eep! Wha- how- I mean- what the… tail!" Following it down, it was indeed true, her tail had grown back. Kakarot just smiled and giggled in response. "This is not funny Kakarot, I don't have my gi on me!"

"Why are you so embarrassed by your tail?" Kakarot asked.

"Why am I," Chi-Chi threw up her hands in frustration, "Why am I embarrassed by the fact that I have a tail? Because I'm in the public eye constantly and I don't want people constantly asking questions about me and the fact that I have a tail! They'll think I'm weird, and then they'll start poking and prodding me, word will spread, and before I know it the entire world will know I'm that weird Princess with a tail and no one wants to talk to me or give me the time of day!"

"But… it's part of you," Kakarot said, looking away, "I feel kinda lost without my tail, it should grow back soon if yours did," he shook his head, "if you really care so much about hiding it, then wrap it around your waist like you did with your gi, just under whatever clothes Master Roshi gives us." Dropping her shoulders, she wrapped her tail around her waist and grabbed her dress from her bag, before quickly shuffling into the bathroom to change into it.

After using the water as a reflective surface to check how she looked, she admitted to herself that Kakarot was right, if she wrapped her tail under her dress, it was nearly impossible to notice. _He is right, to an extent, I guess. It *is*_ _a part of me._

 _Of course it's a part of you, it's part of your body._

 _Oh great; you. I'd hoped you'd stay quiet forever._

 _Shut up._ _Hiding your tail might be good for hiding from the galactic patrol, but you should try wearing it outside of your obi when you wear your gi- your tail can help you in fights more than you'd think._

As Chi-Chi was about to respond, the alarm sounded, waking Krillin and Master Roshi.

 **-R &R-**

After waiting for the others to get into their clothes, Master Roshi had led the three of them down to the temple, where they used their registration cards to get into the gate, to the considerable shock of the proctors. As they reached entrance to the temple proper, Master Roshi stopped them.

"This is where I leave you children," Roshi said, "you've all trained hard over the past ten months- do your best now!"

"Right!" all three of them said.

"Also, you can't exactly fight in those clothes, so," he said, before opening a capsule that contained a suitcase, and opened the suitcase to reveal three orange gi marked with the pictogram for Turtle, along with black wristbands and obis, as well as white socks and black sneakers. He handed one to each of the kids, and told them to quickly run and change. They did so. After changing into the outfit, Chi-Chi looked at herself in the mirror. It wasn't much unlike her old gi, but it represented the school she'd attended, the same as her father. That much filled her heart with pride. Holding out the obi, she thought about what Kakarot and the voice had said about her tail, before shaking her head, wrapping her tail around her waist, and tying the obi snugly over it to conceal it.

 _I can do this. It doesn't matter if I make it even to the semi-finals: so long as I make it to the quarter-finals and get a chance to show my strength on national television, I'll be satisfied._ She shook her head to let her hair fall down to her shoulders, walking back out to the entrance, where Kakarot and Krillin met her, wearing the same uniform. Smiling at the two of them, the three of them walked through the arch and into the temple. Inside the temple was a veritable hodgepodge of fighters of all shapes and sizes, from the huge guys with muscles, to the lean fighters who look to rely more on technique than strength.

"Wow..." Kakarot said, "are these guys all fighters?"

"Um, I'm not really sure about this anymore..." Krillin muttered.

"Oh don't chicken out now, Krillin," Kakarot said. As Krillin opened his mouth to retort, a voice came over the speakers as a man walked out onto the stage.

" _Good morning, fighters! Good morning fighters! I'd like to thank you for taking the time to come out here to our tournament. We hold the Tenkaichi Budokai to see who the strongest in the world is, and it is our pleasure to see all one hundred and thirty eight of you here today!_ "

"O-one hundred and thirty-eight?!" Krillin squeaked.

"Oh hush, you'll fight at most twenty people here," Kakarot said.

" _You all have come here, representing all the different races and countries of the world under His Majesty, King Furry. Now, since you are all gathered, allow me to explain the rules of the Tournament:_

" _First off,_ _each battle is one-on-one. You will fight for one minute- if one person says 'I give,' falls unconscious, or falls out of the ring, they lose. There is absolutely no killing allowed. No weapons are allowed. If you are from a race that has claws, you can use them. If no winner is chosen by the time that the minute is up, a judge will decide who fought better and declare them the winner- and no bribing this time!_

" _Now, I ask you all to step forward and pick a number from the box. You can look at the board to see which block you are in_ _._ _And no trading your cards!_ "

Chi-Chi stepped forward and picked a card out. _Number 34. Okay then._ She turned to the other two. "Oi, what did you two get?

"I got seventy," Kakarot said.

"And I got number ninety-three," Krillin said, before looking up at the chart, "eep! I'm in the third block too! I don't wanna go up against Kakarot again!"

"Settle down, we're on opposite sides, we won't fight each other unless we both make it to the quarter finals," Kakarot growled, "much as I'd like to see what improvements you've made."

"I'm off in Block One, so I've got to run over there," Chi-Chi said, before narrowing her eyes, "don't kill anyone. If either of you gets disqualified, you'll have to fight me outside of the confines of the tournament, and I don't think you'll enjoy that." Then she turned and started jogging off.

 **-R &R-**

"Kakarot," Krillin muttered, "what's up with her?" Kakarot shrugged his shoulders.

"I think she just really wants to fight me," Kakarot said, "not that it really matters, anyway, these people are doomed if they fight any of us three."

 **-R &R-**

(play Joe Esposito's _You're the Best_ )

Chi-Chi didn't have to wait long for her number to be called. Once it was, she ran up to the raised platform and climbed onto it. Her opponent was a copper-skinned young man with light brown hair.

The man sighed, "I really don't like fighting kids, they get hurt too easily. I'll just make this quick, then." The two of them got into their positions and the referee called the match to begin. Both of them charged straight at each other. The man pulled his arm back and threw a punch at Chi-Chi. As it approached her, she pressed off the ground with both feet, gracefully flipping over the man's head, before rebounding off the ground and driving her elbow into the man's back. The man flew out of the arena and into the wall. A medical team quickly ran up and carried away the unconscious man on a stretcher.

"Err… Number 34 wins," the referee said. Chi-Chi smiled and bounced down from the platform. The other contestants backed away from her as she hopped down. _Yeah, now maybe you idiots will actually take me seriously instead of mocking me!_

 **-R &R-**

"Number seventy!" a ref called. Kakarot smiled and bounced up on the platform. His opponent tried to charge him with brute force, just like the last one. Kakarot broke into a run and leapt off the platform at his opponent, kicking upward at his face. His opponent flew backwards in an arc, landing flat on his back deep in the crowd.

"Number seventy advances!" Kakarot smiled and slid off the platform, where Krillin just came off his own fight. Krillin flashed the victory sign, which Kakarot returned. _Well, at least this isn't all that boring._

 **-R &R-**

"Alright, this is the second match of the First Block to decide who advances to the quarter finals! Get ready… fight!" Chi-Chi charged at her opponent- a lady with curly hair, who swung one arm at Chi-Chi, before getting a foot in the gut, and flying out of the arena.

"Number Thirty-Four advances to the Quarter Final Matches of the Tenkaichi Budokai!" the ref announced. Chi-Chi threw her arms in the air and leaped up in happiness, cheering all the while.

 **-R &R-**

Focusing himself, Kakarot stared down his opponent, a well dressed man with a mustache, standing with his left arm facing Kakarot, and two fingers and a thumb on the hand extended.

"Word of advice, kid: your stance sucks- there are far too many openings," his opponent said.

"What a jerk, kick his ass, Kakarot!" he heard Chi-Chi call from behind him. Smiling lightly to himself, he waited for his opponent to charge, then jumped over his head and tried to come down on top of the man. Seeing his trick, his opponent dodged and jumped back. Quickly catching up, Kakarot swept the man's feet out from under him and pushed him out of the arena.

"Number Seventy advances to the quarter finals!" the ref said. Kakarot looked down at his defeated opponent.

"You're right, my stance does have a lot of openings. I like yours, I'm keeping it," he said, before hopping down to join his friends.

"Nice one, Kakarot, you dominated that one. Can't wait to see you actually fight in the tournament," Krillin said.

"I can't, either," a voice said from behind him. Of course, Kakarot knew that voice instantly.

"Hi, Yamcha," he said, looking over his shoulder. Yamcha's hair was cut short now, but he was still the same as ever otherwise.

"Numbers Ninety-Three and Ninety-Seven, please step onto the stage!" the ref called.

"Alright, this will only take a second," Krillin said, climbing up onto the stage. He was true to his word, his opponent took one hit to the gut and surrendered, before falling flat on his face.

 **-R &R-**

"Damn. Is he one of Master Roshi's, too?" Yamcha asked.

"Yeah, he was mine and Chi-Chi's training partner," Kakarot explained.

"Cool, I guess I have three tough opponents if I seek the championship, then, huh?" Yamcha said. _With these three, my path to the Championship is much more difficult… but it's not impossible. I've beaten Kakarot before, that boy seems to be a normal human when you get right down to it… and so long as I don't piss off Chi-Chi too much, she's probably beatable._

A man with blonde hair and sunglasses walked out of the back then. "Alright! Everyone who is moving on to the Quarter Finals, please come over here! Everyone else, vacate the premises!" Eight people stepped up to a table with a box on it.

"Each person will draw a card out of the box here," the announcer said, when suddenly everyone covered their noses as a huge guy in nothing but underwear stepped up. Thankfully, he went first, and drew number 7. A young man with copper skin and a turban went second, drawing number five. Third was an older man in a nice suit, who drew number 8. Yamcha went next and drew number 3. Kakarot went fifth and drew number 6. A Dragon-like thing went sixth and chose number 4. Next came Krillin and Chi-Chi who drew 2 and 1, respectively.

The blond man walked up and drew their names on the chart to mark the seven battles of the Tenkaichi Budokai. "Alright, the match-ups are decided! We'll break for lunch and then start the quarter-finals!"

* * *

 **A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Now, this is going to be a longer than usual author's note so I can fully type this: the makeup of the matches will be as follows:**

 _ **Match 1: Chi-Chi vs. Krillin**_

 _ **Match 2: Yamcha vs. Giran**_

 _ **Match 3: Kakarot vs. Nam**_

 _ **Match 4: Bacterian vs. Jackie Chun**_

 **Remember to Follow, Favourite, and above all else, _Review_! See you all next time!**


	18. Budokai Match 1: Chi-Chi vs Krillin!

**A/N: Still need a beta reader. Decided to post this one early to make up for my week and a half long absence, that and it's a rather short chapter.**

* * *

Chi-Chi walked out of the temple's complex to find a large stone arena in a walled in courtyard. Krillin followed her until the reached the edge of the arena, when they turned and walked to opposite sides. Moments after they turned to face each other, the tournament announcer walked out, readied his microphone, and waved for the cameras to start rolling.

"Welcome everyone," the tournament announcer said, "to the first quarter-final match of the Twenty-First Tenkaichi Budokai! First off, since it is the first match, let me explain the rules of the Tournament. The fight will go on until one of them is knocked out and unable to stand up for a ten count, or is knocked out of bounds! No killing is allowed- also, no crotch shots, please, keep it fair. And no weapons are allowed." He stepped back to allow the camera to see the two better.

"On my right here is Chi-Chi the Ox Princess, and on my left here is Krillin, both seem to wear the same uniform, so they are likely students from the same school. Now, I imagine you're all here to watch the Tournament, not listen to me just ramble on all day, so, without further ado, let the contestants get ready!" Chi-Chi got into her stance and Krillin did the same.

"You know, Chi-Chi," Krillin called, "I'm glad it was you I had to face, of my fellow students. But despite that fact, I'm not gonna hold back, so I hope you at least make it interesting for me."

Chi-Chi couldn't help but feel slightly offended… but then realized in the back of her mind that he hadn't actually seen her fight on a serious level, only her play fights with Kakarot, in which they both held back immensely. "Oh, don't be silly, Krillin!" she called, "If you think this will be an easy fight, you've got something else coming!"

 **-R &R-**

"Assuming Krillin fights at his best? Chi-Chi wins after a good to watch match. If he pisses her off? Match over instantly. Only way she loses is if she accidentally kills him and gets disqualified," Yamcha said. Kakarot shook his head.

"Odds for him are that bad, huh?" he asked.

"Kakarot, when you've been pummeled by someone that badly, you know when they can probably win," Yamcha replied.

"True enough," Kakarot muttered. He quickly climbed up onto the wall and peaked over it. "Hey, Krillin! We're convinced over here that you're doomed! Try to prove us wrong, won't ya?!"

 **-R &R-**

"Right, _I'm_ the doomed one," Krillin muttered, "I swear, Kakarot comes up with dumbest ways to dismay a person I've ever seen. Chi-Chi wouldn't hurt a fly, she wouldn't even swing at it unless its name was Kakarot. I'm going to win this stupid match, then fight in the semi-finals, and hopefully prove that I've surpassed Kakarot by beating him in the finals."

"BEGIN!" the announcer called, with a gong being sounded behind him. For the first few seconds, the two simply stared at each other. Then Chi-Chi charged him.

She ran right up to him, seeming to aim a kick at him, and he stepped back, only for a backhand to come instead. Narrowly dodging it, he swung back and got his hand slapped to the side, leaving her ample opportunity to throw several punches in rapid succession, most of which Krillin parried.

As Krillin moved to parry the last punch, Chi-Chi feinted and instead threw her hand to the ground, spinning on it to sweep Krillin's feet out from under him, followed by grabbing the boy's arm and throwing him to the floor.

"Err, shouldn't you count at this point?" Chi-Chi asked the announcer.

"Oh, right. Um, One- Two- Three-" the announcer began, only to be interrupted by Krillin pushing himself up and brushing himself off.

"Where the hell did that come from?!" Krillin called.

"What was that about this being an easy match? Or did you forget that I took the same training as you?" Chi-Chi responded, not even bothering to answer his question.

"That doesn't answer my question," Krillin muttered, getting back into stance. Chi-Chi shook her head and simply crossed her arms with an eyebrow raised, alongside a sad smile. Eye twitching, Krillin charged straight for her with his fist raised.

Chi-Chi ducked under his fist and drove her own into his gut. Swiftly recovering, he swung a high kick at her, which she dodged and threw another barrage of punches and kicks at him, driving him back toward the edge of the ring. As swung back for a finish blow, however, Krillin jumped up and over her head, kicking her in the back, sending her stumbling to the edge.

At the last second, though, she jumped toward the pillar at the edge of the arena, using it as a rebound and flying back toward Krillin. He jumped up to meet her and their fists collided with each others' faces at top speed. As they looked into each others' eyes, Chi-Chi smiled lightly, as Krillin felt a burning sensation run up his arm and a cracking sound from his hand.

The two flew to opposite sides of the arena and hit the stone floor hard. Chi-Chi got back on her feet instantly, while Krillin struggled his way up.

"What are you made out of, pure metal?!" Krillin yelled, shaking his hand in desperation to make the pain go away, but it only seemed to make it worse. To his credit, Chi-Chi seemed to be doing much the same. _Damn, I might've injured my good hand! And it's only the first match! I don't wanna have to take painkillers just to get through the semi-finals! At the very least she's in the same boat!_

"No, I'm just Chi-Chi! No metal here!" she replied with a grin, pinching her cheek with one hand and making the victory sign with the other. Krillin put his head in his hands with a wince, and shook it slowly to avoid hurting his hand any further. Carefully getting back into stance, him and Chi-Chi began slowly circling each other, watching carefully for any openings that they displayed.

"How exciting, the two circling each other carefully, waiting to see which of them will make the fatal slip!" the announcer said.

Chi-Chi stopped and blinked, before looking at the announcer, "Fatal? But I thought you said we couldn't kill each other."

"Oh," the announcer said, rubbing the back of his head, "what I meant was-"

"Hey!" Krillin yelled, rushing forward, "you're wide open, ditz!" Before Chi-Chi could defend herself, he kicked her right in the face, sending her tumbling head-over-heels right to the edge of the arena, where she stayed in a heap.

 **-R &R-**

"Only way, huh?" Kakarot said, looking side-eyed at Yamcha.

"Hey, she's not out yet." Yamcha replied.

 **-R &R-**

"Hehe. Start the count, will you?" Krillin asked.

"Right. One- Two- Three-"

 **-R &R-**

"Come on Chi-Chi, get up..." Kakarot muttered, holding his hands over his chest.

 **-R &R-**

"Four- Five- Six- Seven-" as the announcer reached seven, Chi-Chi slowly pushed herself up and struggled to her feet.

"Oh no you don't! I've had enough of this damned match! This ends now!" Krillin said, charging Chi-Chi with his arm cocked back, ready for one final punch. As he swung, however, Chi-Chi sidestepped out of the way, and delivered a sharp roundhouse kick to his back. Unable to stop it or regain his balance, Krillin stumbled forward, off the platform and into the wall surrounding the courtyard.

The crowd was silent enough afterwards that you could hear a pin drop. Then they broke out into a deafening roar of cheering.

"Chi-Chi wins the match by ring-out! She proceeds to the semi-finals!" the announcer said.

 **-R &R-**

"Well," Kakarot yelled over the roar of the crowd, "he wasn't wrong, it did end then."

"Just not the way he wanted it to," Yamcha concurred, "and I think she used your move to end it, too!"

"Aye… that she did," Kakarot muttered, smiling lightly to himself.

 **-R &R-**

Walking over to the edge of the arena where Krillin sat looking down at the ground, Chi-Chi knelt down. "Good job, Krillin, you fought hard and well, I think that's all we can ask for," she said, offering her hand to him. He scoffed and slapped the hand away.

"Yeah, but it wasn't enough to earn me the victory, now was it?" he said, pushing himself up and walking away. Chi-Chi watched him walk away back into the temple.

"Well, screw you, too!" Chi-Chi said to herself as he walked away. Standing back up, she walked over to the courtyard behind the wall, where Kakarot ran up to her and grabbed her hand. He looked like he was trying hard not to smile, and was looking anywhere but her eyes.

"Great job winning the fight, Chi-Chi," he said. A hint of blush coming to her cheeks, Chi-Chi nodded.

"Thank, Kakarot, I really appreciate it," she replied.

 **-R &R-**

Krillin walked off towards the infirmary, still frustrated by the outcome of his match. _Yeah, I **almost** beat her, but I __almost_ _beat_ ** _Chi-Chi_** _, the one who Kakarot **always** holds back against whenever they do anything! I'm obviously nowhere near the level I need to be to face him down! _Krillin clenched his fist in resolve. _Once this tournament is over, I'm going to train like there's no tomorrow- no relaxation from training until I'm at the level I can beat those two! I'll fight them at the next Tenkaichi Budokai and beat them both!_

* * *

 **A/N: Hope you all have enjoyed this chapter! I might have been able to make it longer, but fight scenes are best kept only as long as they need to be, and in this case, that was about this length. In any case, the current match-ups chart:**

 _ **Match #1: Chi-Chi vs. Krillin- Winner: Chi-Chi**_

 _ **Match #2: Yamcha vs. Giran**_

 _ **Match #3: Kakarot vs. Nam**_

 _ **Match #4: Bacterian vs. Jackie Chun**_

 **Follow, Favourite, and above all else, _REVIEW_ , and I will see you all next time!**


	19. Budokai Match 2: Yamcha vs Giran!

**A/N: Still need a beta-reader. Sorry for the delay, hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Krillin held out his hand for the doctor standing in front of him. After his loss to _Chi-Chi_ of all people, he'd gone straight to the infirmary, since her face felt like it was made out of steel, and his hand hurt after punching it.

The medic on hand waved a machine over it, before rubbing ointment and telling him to keep his hand open.

"It's not terrible, it's just a stress fracture," at Krillin's panic, he waved his hands back and forth, "severe bruising on your finger bones. I don't know what you did, but it looks like you punched a brick wall."

Krillin shook his head. "I did nothing of the sort! I just punched my opponent in the face and my hand started to hurt!"

"How is… that's impossible!" the doctor said, before shaking his head and wrapping Krillin's hand in a soft bandage. "I guess you just have extremely bad luck, my friend. Don't strain your hand for a week or so and it should be back to normal, and no training with it for a week after the bandage comes off, at least."

Krillin was sent off from the infirmary with a clap on the back and a smile, and walked back to the fighters area, sulking all the while. _How could I have been so weak? Yeah, when I first met her I got hit_ _through the sky,_ _but that was just my own stupidity and shock getting to me while she freaked out._ _How did she surpass me so quickly, especially considering that we all trained together?! It makes no sense!_ _Sh_ _e's a ditz, she was always goofing something up, and_ _she always stayed behind Kakarot in any situation that seemed dangerous!_

Krillin clenched a fist on his good hand. _I can't believe I let myself fall behind. I can do better than this. I_ _ **will**_ _do better than this!_ He walked out of the temple and into the fighters area to see his fellow students… asleep against the brick wall. Their heads rested on each others' as they slept, with a young man leaning against the wall not far from them. The young man looked up and saw Krillin, then got up off the wall and strode over to him calmly.

"Hey, you their fellow student?" he asked.

Krillin nodded his head, "Yeah, I'm Krillin."

"I'm Yamcha, I traveled with those two briefly last year," he explained. He then frowned and looked down at Krillin, "don't feel down about losing to Chi-Chi. I've been beaten by her, too. She's not exactly what she seems at first glance. She does have one big weakness, though."

"What kind of weakness?" Krillin asked, genuinely curious. If he could learn this weakness now, then he would have an easy path to the victory next time he fought her.

"Something involving her obi, I don't know exactly how to exploit it, but when Kakarot grabbed her obi she fell down and wasn't able to move until he let go of it. Though, I think it might be her tail, if I'm being honest," Yamcha said.

"Huh, I might need to… wait, tail?" Krillin asked.

Yamcha opened his mouth to answer, but suddenly the loudspeaker came on. " _Numbers 3 and 4, please come out to the arena now!_ " Yamcha immediately turned around and ran.

"Hey, hold on!" Krillin called extending his arm, but Yamcha kept running. Krillin lowered his arm and looked at the ground. _What did he mean, tail?_

 **-R &R-**

Yamcha stood in the arena, frowning to himself as his opponent stood there. His opponent was a large yellow and blue dragon. _I did not train to fight dragons! I trained to fight strong opponents!_

" _Now, Match #2 between Giran and Yamcha shall commence! You may begin!_ " the announcer called, before running out of the arena bounds as a gong sounded.

Immediately, Giran rushed forward with his claws bared, swiping them at Yamcha. Calming himself, he dodged out of the way of the first few swipes and drove a kick upwards into the dragon's snout. This barely phased Giran as came back with the swipes again. Giran was getting quite annoyed with Yamcha as he swiped, not one attack had hit, and at this point he wanted to just pick up the meatbag and throw him off the island fast enough to break the sound barrier. He swung harder, faster, and Yamcha kept backing up and dodging, before countering. Annoyed, Giran threw a fake punch, and as Yamcha went to dodge, Giran spun and hit the fighter with his tail, sending him stumbling to the edge of the arena.

"This ends now!" Giran yelled, charging at Yamcha with his arm cocked back. Smirking, Yamcha crouched down and jumped to the side, around Giran. Before the dragon could turn around, Yamcha grabbed his tail. Gritting his teeth, Yamcha swung as hard as he could, sending the dragon flying through the air and out of the ring. _Whew, that took less effort than I though, but at least I have enough energy to-_

Yamcha's jaw practically hit the floor. Giran had taken to the skies with his wings and flew back over the arena, coming to a rest on the other side from Yamcha. "That's… that's not fair!" Yamcha muttered.

"Yeah, well, life isn't always fair, kid," Giran replied with a smirk, "and stop dodging so much!" Giran opened his mouth as wide as he could, and within his throat something began to glow, brighter and brighter. At the last second, Yamcha ducked, expecting some kind of fireball to shoot from the dragon, but he felt no heat, only the wind of something flying over his head and smacking into the audience.

"Ah! It's in my hair! Why won't it come out!" some poor sap in the audience yelled. Giran scratched the back of his head in slight embarrassment.

" _Giran,_ " the announcer said, " _no attacking the audience. It may have been on accident, but if you do it again, you'll be disqualified and banned from future tournaments._ "

"Got it," Giran muttered, crossing his arms.

" _This is important, Giran! The rule was instituted after the fourth Tenkaichi Budokai when some wise guy fired something into the crowd to get his opponent to resign!_ "

 **-R &R-**

"Huh, that seems so counterintuitive, wouldn't you want to beat someone by your own merits, rather than use some kind of cheap method like that?" Kakarot asked, to no one in particular, since Chi-Chi was still asleep. Behind him, someone coughed. He turned around to see… Master Roshi in a suit and wig. _Wow, really? He's like 500 Earth years old, you'd think he'd have invested in a better disguise than that._

"Oh, what, where you there, old-timer?" Kakarot asked. _Best let him think his ruse worked, then tell him later that I knew it was him the whole time._ The old man lightly nodded.

"Not only was I there, but that was my match. Nearly a century ago, I fought against my oldest rival, right here in the finals of the Tenkaichi Budokai. Certain words were exchanged… also certain techniques that I would be loathe to use on anyone else in combat. At one point in our match, he used his most powerful technique, and I jumped out of the way… it flew into the crowd, killing five people and injuring nearly thirty. I've never forgiven myself for it, and I suspect he hasn't either. I haven't seen him at one of these since the sixteenth, and even then, he hasn't fought here since our match," he explained.

"Huh," Kakarot said, "that's an interesting bit of trivia there… okay, what name are you using while here?"

Roshi blinked in surprise, before correcting his face. "My name is Jackie Chun. I've never met you before, so I'm wondering what you mean by 'what name are you using while here,'" he said, adding air quotes on the last part.

"Funny. When I was growing up, Master Gohan told me that in the finals of the 15th Tenkaichi Budokai, he fought an old man with your exact features named 'Bryce Lee,'" Kakarot replied, hopping down from the wall. "I'm gonna go practice my techniques around the corner, just wake up Chi-Chi when it's time for my match, she would be furious if she missed it."

 **-R &R-**

"I get it!" Giran yelled, "now can you please let us continue the fight!"

" _I mean, I can, but will I is the question?_ " the announcer replied cheekily.

Giran growled and licked his… lips? "Restart the match or I'm gonna have an early dinner," he growled. The announcer shuddered.

" _Alright, the fight continues!_ " he called, before running out of the ring. Almost immediately, Giran rushed forward and grabbed Yamcha's arm, roaring in his face and causing the young man to shake visibly. Yamcha smiled nervously, then punched upwards as hard as he could, sending the dragon flying back. Cleanly, Giran did a somersault and landed on his feet.

Yamcha stepped back and got into his stance, locking eyes with Giran. Yamcha took a deep breath and charged.

"Wolf Fang Fist!" he yelled mid-charge.

"Wolf Fang wha-" Giran began, before Yamcha kicked him in the snout, punched him several times, then clasped his hands and smashed the dragon to the ground. Quickly running up, Yamcha grabbed Giran's tail and slung it over his shoulder. Gritting his teeth, Yamcha pulled as hard as he could, throwing Giran into the wall outside the arena before he could fly up.

" _Giran is out of the ring! Yamcha wins, and will advance to the Semi-Finals!_ " the announcer called. Giran shook his head sadly. Yamcha walked over to the edge and crouched down.

"You don't need to put on acts like that, you know. I've fought beast-men who wanted to eat me before, you're not like them," Yamcha said.

Giran sighed. "Yeah, I know, but it scares people into running away in combat, so why not? In certain situations, perpetuating a stereotype can help. Tell me a blonde wouldn't act like an idiot to make people underestimate them before whooping ass."

Yamcha shook his head. "Fair enough. You fought well, I wish you luck in future endeavors."

"Back at you, worthy fighter," Giran replied, standing up with a thumbs up, and walking out of the arena. Smiling, Yamcha ran over to the edge of the area grounds, where Bulma reached over from the crowd and grabbed his arm, pulling him over a kissing him lightly.

"Great job, Yamcha!" she cheered. Yamcha blushed lightly and scratched the back of his head.

"Thanks Bulma," he replied, "now I just have to beat Chi-Chi and I'm on to the finals!"

 **-R &R-**

A fair distance away from the arena, two figures descended from the air and landed atop one of the taller buildings in the area.

"I told you we should have left earlier! We've missed at least one of the matches already!" Seripa complained.

"Sorry, Sera! I honestly didn't realize it would take so long to get here! You don't fly nearly as fast as you used to!" Gine replied, scratching the back of her head.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, I've atrophied from being on this light-gravity world for so long. When this tournament is over, I'm collecting my daughter for a little bit and doing some intensive training to get back into shape. If only this planet had centrifugal training rooms, it would make it so much easier to get my old strength back," Seripa replied.

"Well, when that day comes, I'll be happy to spar against you just like in the old days. But until then, let's just watch our children fight in a tournament to win money," Gine said.

"Fine, fine, but I hope you brought enough food to last a while," Seripa said.

"What do you take me for, an Earthling? I brought plenty." Gine said, sticking her tongue out.

* * *

 **A/N: Hope you all have enjoyed this chapter! Here is the current match-ups chart:**

 ** _Match #1: Chi-Chi vs. Krillin- Winner: Chi-Chi_**

 ** _Match #2: Yamcha vs. Giran- Winner: Yamcha_**

 **Match #3: Kakarot vs. Nam**

 **Match #4: Bacterian vs. Jackie Chun**

 **Match #5: Yamcha vs. Chi-Chi**

 **Match #6: TBD**

 **Match #7: TBD**

 **Follow, Favourite, and above all else, _REVIEW_ , and I will see you all next time!**


	20. Budokai Matches 3 & 4

**A/N: Sorry for the delay! Enjoy the chapter! Also, my quest for a beta reader is still going nowhere... oh well. If you spot any errors, let me know!**

* * *

As the crowds cheered at the end of Yamcha's match, Krillin shook his head and picked up a small stick from the ground. Looking around, he couldn't see Kakarot anywhere, which was a serious problem, as the boy had his fight up next. _Well, a serious problem for_ _ **him**_ _, anyway. If he is disqualified, Chi-Chi will be all but heartbroken- hehehehehe._ Feeling rather vindictive in regards to his loss, Krillin sat down on the stone path and listened to the announcer call for Kakarot, who wasn't anywhere to be seen.

" _Err, Daikyō Kakarot? Will you please come out now? Hello?_ " Krillin just smiled and clasped his hands behind his head calmly. All of a sudden, Yamcha came running from around the corner.

"Damn it, where is that kid?" he muttered. The young man shook his head before running over to the sleeping Chi-Chi and tapping her forehead lightly. The girl groaned softly in annoyance.

"Chi-Chi, wake up, I can't find Kakarot and it's time for his match!" Yamcha insisted. The girl suddenly shot up and was on her feet, running off around part of the building.

 **-R &R-**

Clasping his hands, Kakarot remained steady with his eyes closed. Imagining a gong sounding in his head, he began practice of his basic stances and katas. He punched and kicked imaginary opponents, sending them through the air or into the ground. Hearing a stick snap behind him, he spun and sent a fist in that direction, only to have it caught. Holding his fist, Chi-Chi smiled and shook her head.

"Nice punch, but your match is about to start, get moving," she said.

Blinking in acknowledgment, Kakarot nodded and ran back to the arena quickly, running in with the announcer nodding lightly.

" _Alright, after that slight delay, the match between Nam and Kakarot can begin!_ " the announcer called.

Kakarot was barely paying attention, stretching his legs and arms in preparation for the fight. He was confident in his powers, and just really wanted to show off how strong he was, and the best way to do that was to make it to the finals and fight Chi-Chi. He didn't have to hold back when fighting her, they could punch each other all day and they'd be fine tomorrow.

Focusing his eyes on his turban-wearing opponent, he took a deep breath. _Alright. I can do this._ Shifting his weight to his back foot, Kakarot sprung forward as fast as he could. Cocking his arm back, his swung at his opponent. At the last second, Nam jumped into the air and came back down with a flying kick.

Cartwheeling to avoid the attack, Kakarot scrambled to the other side of the arena, getting back into his stance. _Damn, this guy isn't bad. I'm going to have to play a bit more fast and loose in this one if I expect to make it to the finals._

 **-R &R-**

"Just as I expected," Yamcha said, watching the match from over the wall, "Nam wasted his opportunity at taking out Kakarot before he could get his bearings."

"And how much of an issue is that?" Yamcha turned around and saw the old man, Jackie Chun, standing there in a fine suit. _That is totally Master Roshi in_ _a_ _disguise… and it's not even a good one._ Yamcha shook his head to clear the thoughts.

"When it comes to fighting? Give Kakarot an inch, he'll take a mile," Yamcha said. A high pitched laughter erupted from Yamcha's right. He looked to see Chi-Chi sitting on her cloud and looking at them.

"You're only partially right. When it comes to fighting Kakarot, you give him an inch, he'll take a mile, mow and renovate that mile, then try to acquire the next town over," she said, her smile not dropping for a moment.

"You make that sound like a good thing," Yamcha muttered.

"Of course it is! You take any opportunity given to you in a fight," Chi-Chi said, sticking her tongue out at Yamcha.

"You know," Yamcha said, "I'm starting to get the feeling that you don't like me very much."

"You shot me," Chi-Chi said simply. "So, when our match comes up, I'll kick your ass, then battle Kakarot for the championship belt in the final- then, just maybe, I'll be willing to try liking you a bit," she continued.

"Now, now, Chi-Chi," Jackie Chun said, "calm down. This is a tournament, not a dueling ground."

"He. Shot. Me," Chi-Chi said, punctuating each word for emphasis. A slightly mad grin broke out across her face, and she got a crazed glint in her eyes. "I'll beat him down and head to the finals. He's lucky that the rules for hitting below the belt are in place- otherwise I'd be severely tempted, but on the other hand Bulma likes him, so maybe I'd be inclined to be nice in that regard."

"Enough, Chi-Chi," Jackie Chun growled out, briefly forgetting he was in disguise, "such words are unworthy of a student of the Turtle School of Martial Arts." Chi-Chi simply rolled her eyes and focused her attention back on the fight, but Yamcha noticed the glint in her eyes and the grin hadn't left.

 **-R &R-**

Nam charged forward with a flurry of kicks. After the first four struck home, Kakarot finally saw their pattern and began deflecting them, one by one. Finally, Nam stopped for just a moment. _There, an opening!_ Kakarot charged forward and counterattacked with several punches, many of which were deflected, but just as many others found a home in Nam's jawbone, ribs, shoulders, forearms, or solar plexus.

"Enough!" Nam yelled, swinging low with his kick to knock Kakarot's feet out form under him. As the boy fell, the bronze warrior struck him in the neck with a simple hand-knife strike, sending the boy sprawling across the ground. Nam stood for a moment, catching his breath. "I do not find any joy in the harming of small children!" he yelled, "Therefore, I will end this quickly!"

As the boy rolled onto his knees, Nam ran towards him, arms outstretched and ready to push him out of the arena. He heard the warrior coming and took a deep breath… then something clicked in his mind, and his muscles relaxed. Kakarot suddenly felt far better than he had in months. _Finally. I was waiting for this to happen._ As the warrior approached, something wrapped itself around his ankle and yanked him off his feet, leaving him on his back and completely vulnerable to the boy's counterattack.

After sustaining several punches to all areas of his body, Nam jumped back, heaving and in pain. _How… how did he do that?_ The boy gave a smile to him… it was a smile out of a nightmare, something he would imagine some evil mastermind giving as his plans came to fruition… and hanging from the boy's waist, through his pants, was a brown furry, monkey-like tail. The boy raised his right arm to his breast and clenched his fist.

"Finally, my tail grew back; now I can fight at my best!" the boy said loudly, for the entire crowd to hear.

 **-R &R-**

Bulma trembled in fear as she clutched the brick wall separating the arena from the spectator stands, "Anyone know when the next full moon is?" she muttered, chuckling to hide her fear.

"Nope, sorry Bulma; I didn't check the calendar," Puar said in an apologetic tone.

 **-R &R-**

Meanwhile, on the other side of the arena, Krillin's jaw had practically hit the ground. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait; Since when does Kakarot have a _**tail?!**_ " he asked.

"Since he was born," Chi-Chi replied, unhelpful as always.

"He had one back when I met him for the first time, but we cut it off him due to unforeseen circumstances," Yamcha explained.

"To put it simply, his tail makes him stronger- it helps him focus his strength and he feels more comfortable. He can also use it to fight, as Nam just found out," Chi-Chi explained.

"Why does he tell you everything?! I never get told anything! What did you do to gain his trust so much more than me?!" Krillin grumbled, throwing his hands up. Chi-Chi blinked, before putting her index finger in between her lips. She then lowered her hand as she clenched it into a fist, before resting her chin on it.

"Why does he tell me everything… I wonder," Chi-Chi said with obvious sarcasm, "Maybe you'll see soon… maybe not."

Krillin growled and glared up at her. "Stop being so vague! It's pissing me off!" he yelled.

"Okay, if that's not working, how about this:" she said, before fake clearing her throat, "I'm not telling you anything else because I don't feel comfortable doing so without asking his permission, nor will I due to the fact that I do I feel that you have earned the privilege of knowing the information at this time. In fact, there is only one person I would trust enough to explain it all to. A mutual friend of ours, she's over there." Chi-Chi pointed at the audience.

"Wait, you guys have friends?" Krillin asked. He immediately regretted it as he found himself on the receiving end of one of the most hateful glares he'd ever seen. But Chi-Chi's eyes also had something else in them… resembling sadness?

"You are so lucky that our match already passed," she muttered, before crossing her arms and floating her cloud up higher and out of view. Once she was, she let a couple of tears fall. He was right, she didn't have any friends… except for those two. And he obviously wasn't interested in being the third if he couldn't handle the fact that she had things she couldn't just tell him.

 **-R &R-**

Kakarot bounced up and down on his tail, quickly regaining his equilibrium with regards to it. _Alright! I really do feel so much better when I have my tail._ Kakarot smiled and faced back toward Nam, who stood atop the pillar. But the bronze warrior was no longer there. Quickly turning around, a sharp pain shot through Kakarot's body as a roundhouse kick met his neck and sent him crashing to the ground, lying facing up.

Nam closed his eyes and took a deep breath before looking at the boy. "Know that I do not do this out of malicious intent; it's simply that far too many people are counting on me. I cannot fail now!" He crouched down and jumped into the air, rapidly flying out of view as he shot up. "I will strike swiftly, like a bolt of lightning!" Nam called, before crossing his arms over his chest and diving down rapidly.

 **-R &R-**

From a building 3 blocks away, Gine tightly gripped the concrete wall, causing dents and cracks to form in the material. "Come on… get up..."

 **-R &R-**

Carefully opening his eyes, Kakarot looked up to see a figure rushing down toward him, and fast. He knew he wouldn't be able to roll out of the way in time even if he tried, that the bronze warrior would just adjust himself to hit him anyway. Taking a deep breath, Kakarot focused his ki into his arms. _Only one thing I can do now…_

Inwardly, the boy concentrated, as his other senses melted away; the only sound he could hear was his own heartbeat. His arms began to feel warm and his hands became ultra sensitive as it concentrated.

 **-R &R-**

"Kakarot! Get up!" Chi-Chi cried out, fearing for the life of her friend. Concentrating on him, the boy light moved his mouth.

"Kaaaaa..." the sound came from Kakarot, "Meeeee..."

Jackie Chun's face went white at the sound. "No..." the old man muttered, "no, he wouldn't..."

 **-R &R-**

"Haaaaa…" the sound continued from the boy. Bulma let a few tears fall, as she looked at the boy.

"Do it, Kakarot!" she called as loud as she could.

 **-R &R-**

"Meeeee…" Kakarot cupped his hands at his side, took a deep breath in, then opened his eyes. Nam was almost on him, he had to do this now!

"HAAAAAAAA!" the boy called, thrusting his arms forward. A bright beam of blue and white light erupted from his hands, shooting toward the descending warrior faster than anyone in the audience could fathom. Unable to dodge, Nam screamed in terror as he collided with the beam head on, smashing into him and sending him careening backwards, while his arms felt like they had been lit on fire. Nam could barely see as he fell, until he impacted something hard as he felt it give way beneath him, before smashing into a hard surface.

Regaining his bearings, he looked up to find himself… in the preliminary hall, in one of the arenas from Block 4. He rubbed his eyes, desperate to see that it was all just an illusion or that he was delusional. It was in vain, he was outside of the arena. He had lost. He raised up is arms and saw his arms looked like he had spent far too long in the desert. _What was that?_ the monk wondered.

 **-R &R-**

" _And with a stunning finish, Kakarot is the winner of Match #3! He advances to the Semi-Finals!_ " the announcer called. The boy slowly pushed himself to his feet and stood with the support of his tail, panting heavily.

"Kakarot!" a high pitched voice yelled before slamming into him and wrapping around him. Letting a small smile come to his face, Kakarot turned his head to see Chi-Chi looking at him, sniffling as tears still ran down her face. He relaxed slightly and wrapped his arms around her back.

"Hey, Chi-Chi," Kakarot said.

"I was so scared that you would be hurt, or worse," Chi-Chi said, the tears continuing to flow. Kakarot pulled back from the hug and placed both hands on her face, causing the girl to blush red as a tomato. He smiled and wiped her tears away carefully with his thumbs.

"Out of curiosity, what would you have done, anyway?" Kakarot asked, quiet enough that no one else could hear them.

"I would have hurt him; how bad I would have depends on how bad he hurt you," Chi-Chi said, her voice completely serious. Kakarot blinked, then chuckled, ruffling her hair.

"I knew there was a Saiyan in there somewhere, Chiites," he said, as they turned to walk back to the fighters area.

"Just a second!" the announcer called to Kakarot, not using the microphone. Kakarot turned back to the announcer.

"What is it?" he asked the announcer.

" _That thing you did to end the match, that wouldn't happen to be the fabled Kamehameha, would it?_ " the announcer asked back.

"No, it was, I learned it while training with Master Roshi," he replied. _Okay, not entirely accurate, but I can't say the truth, no one would believe me._

" _Ah! So the Turtle symbol on your gi is authentic then? You are truly Master Roshi's students?_ " the announcer asked.

"Yes. Myself, Chi-Chi, and Krillin are all his students," Kakarot turned away and walked back to the fighters area. When he got there, Krillin was staring straight at him with wide eyes.

"The Kamehameha? I thought it was only a myth, since we never saw him use it while training… but it's a real thing? And you know how to use it? When- I mean, how?!" Krillin asked. Kakarot shrugged, and climbed up the wall to sit atop it. Chi-Chi's cloud soon floated up next to him and the two prepared to watch the next match.

 **-R &R-**

"Haha! Yes, I knew he could do it!" Gine cheered happily. Seripa just shook her head.

"Well, that's the last match we care about today. Come on then, the Semi-Finals are tomorrow, and we still need a place to sleep," she said.

"Alright, Sera. Lead the way then," Gine cheered, the enthusiasm not leaving for a moment.

 **-R &R-**

" _Alright! Let the battle between Jackie Chun and Bacterian begin!_ " the announcer called. Roshi shook his head as he stood in the arena and saw the huge and filthy man, dressed in nothing but a loincloth, and his skin was almost entirely caked in mud and grime. _I don't even want to touch him, it would ruin my shoes. So… I guess I used_ _ **that**_ _then._ The huge man let out a roar into the air, then charged with surprising speed at Roshi. He chuckled as he cracked his knuckles.

 **-R &R-**

Kakarot sat atop the wall and watched the old man seemingly turn blurry as the huge guy charged. The huge guy kicked at him, but simply went through him as if it was nothing. Kakarot blinked and rubbed his eyes. The old man's appearance seemed to be a bit blurry… as if he had just sped by.

Looking to the other side of the arena, Kakarot saw Roshi standing there with his hands clasped behind his back. Bacterian, after roaring at the after-image, turned around and saw Roshi standing there, trying not to laugh.

"You mad?" Roshi laughed out. Bacterian responded with another roar. _Is that a man or a T-Rex disguised as a man?_

"Well then," Roshi continued, "maybe you should," he drew his arm back with his fist clenched, "CHILL!" He punched as hard as he could downward, sending out a wave of air, causing Bacterian to stumble and fall out of the ring, hitting his head hard on the brick wall outside of it.

The announcer opened and closed his mouth carefully. " _Well…_ _Bacterian is out of the ring. Jackie Chun wins, and is our last semi-finalist!_ " he announced. Unceremoniously, a bunch of guys with surgical masks and goggles came with large brooms and began to carefully push him out of the arena. Kakarot smiled and turned to Chi-Chi.

"Well, I guess that it must… stink to be him," he said. Chi-Chi rolled her eyes and smacked him upside the head lightly.

"That joke was terrible," she replied.

"Yeah, well, someone had to say it," Kakarot said, sticking out his tongue. The first fights were over now- it was on to the semi finals- and then the finals after them.

* * *

 **A/N: And that's a wrap! Yes, I know, I hate the delays, too. But, thankfully, I'm on break now, so I should be able to get a decent amount of writing done to at least round out the arc before any more delays strike... assuming the arc ends before Tales of Vesperia comes out, because ain't no way I'm getting any writing done after that, sorry guys :P**

 **Current Match-ups:**

 ** _Match #1: Chi-Chi vs. Krillin- Winner: Chi-Chi_**

 ** _Match #2: Yamcha vs. Giran- Winner: Yamcha_**

 ** _Match #3: Kakarot vs. Nam- Winner: Kakarot_**

 ** _Match #4: Bacterian vs. Jackie Chun- Winner: Jackie Chun_**

 **Match #5: Yamcha vs. Chi-Chi**

 **Match #6: Jackie Chun vs. Kakarot**

 **Match #7: TBD**

 **In any case, remember to Follow, Favourite, and of course, _REVIEW!_ See you all next time!**


	21. Budokai Semi-Final 1: Yamcha vs Chi-Chi

**A/N: I actually got this done on time! Yay me! Also, I still need a beta. If anyone spots any glaring errors, please let me know so that I can fix them!**

After the anticlimactic end of Match 4, all of the quarter-finalists remaining were called up onto the stage by the tournament announcer for a brief interview. Fortunately for the viewers watching the Budokai at home, Nam and Giran had already gone home, while Bacterian had been transported to the hospital, due to the discovery of a severe infection in his right shoulder; this left Krillin as the only quarter-finalist not in the Semi-Finals to be present.

" _Alright, here we have five of our quarter-finalists, four of which will fight in the Semi-Finals shortly! We would just like to ask you each some questions. First up, Fighter number one- Chi-Chi,_ " the announcer said.

"Right here!" Chi-Chi said, bouncing forward with her usual enthusiasm.

" _I would like to ask Chi-Chi, how old are you?_ " the announcer asked.

"I'm twelve years old," she answered, before turning her head, confused, "I would have thought you'd know that, I only get something like a few thousand birthday cards every year."

" _Wait a few… hold on, are you_ _ **the**_ _Chi-Chi, Princess of the Ox Kingdom?_ " the announcer asked, stunned.

"I am," Chi-Chi answered with a smile and a victory sign, "I have to say, competing in a tournament is a ton of fun! I'm finally doing something by my own ability, not by my privilege!"

Kakarot nodded to himself at her words. _She said something similar to me during training._

" _Now, I must ask: you, Kakarot, and Krillin_ _are all wearing the same colored dogi and they all have the same kanji- did all three of you train together?_ "

"Yes," Chi-Chi answered, "we all trained under the great Master Roshi, the Turtle Hermit, which is how Kakarot learned the Kamehameha that he used to win his match."

" _W-Wow! I'_ _d_ _heard that Master Roshi wasn't accepting students anymore! That's incredible! Mr. Daikyō, was that truly the Kamehameha Wave that you used to end the match?_ " the announcer asked, shoving the microphone into Kakarot's face.

"Err… what is this thing?" Kakarot asked, pointing at the microphone. Chi-Chi tapped him lightly, and Kakarot turned to face her.

"Silly Kakarot, that's called a microphone, or a mic for short. It amplifies your voice so that others can hear you. Silly Kakarot," Chi-Chi said in a sweet voice, before blinking and widening her eyes in realization. Her face turned red as a tomato as she buried her face in her hands, then spoke in a quiet tone so that only Kakarot could hear her. "Great, now over a billion people just heard me talk to you so informally, I'll never hear the end of it!" she complained.

Sighing, Kakarot spoke into the mic. "Yes, it was the Kamehameha. Though, calling it the 'Kamehameha Wave' is redundant, as the 'ha' at the end means 'wave' already," he said, "and just for people to know, I'm 13, I just turned as such last month."

" _Great, now onto our little Quarter-Finalist down here, you were their training partner, how is it training under the legend that is Master Roshi?_ " the announcer said, shifting his attention and the microphone to Krillin.

"Oh, um..." Krillin said, "it's very different. He can do a ton of stuff, even though he's like 500 years old."

As the announcer responded and moved onto Yamcha for the interview, Kakarot leaned over to Chi-Chi.

"Is it weird being on television like this?" Kakarot asked.

Chi-Chi shook her head. "No, not really, I've been a media darling since I was a little kid," she said, "I'm pretty sure that somewhere around 80 million children have dreams of marrying me one day and becoming my consort when I ascend the throne."

"So, since you know the TV so well," Kakarot said, giggling a bit, "if you were some megalomaniac intent on conquering the planet, what would you declare to the media?"

Chi-Chi giggled back and rolled her eyes. "I would be all like," she threw her hands up in the air, fists clenched, "tremble mortals and despair! Doom has come to this world!"

"...okay, where did you take that from?" Kakarot asked.

"Dream I had once, came from some kind of computer game," Chi-Chi replied, "some kid who looked way too much like you was playing it."

Kakarot shuddered, "The ones with the kid that looks like me but isn't me always creep me out."

" _Isn't that exciting! Now, clear the ring, it's time for the Semi-Finals to begin!_ " the announcer called. Kakarot looked at Chi-Chi, who nodded to him. He turned and ran out of the ring to the fighters' area. Turning, he quickly scaled the wall and sat atop it to watch the match.

 **-R &R-**

Looking over to Kakarot with a smile and nod, the boy nodded back to her, as Chi-Chi focused her attention on her opponent. She acknowledged that this was going to be far more difficult fight than the one she had with Krillin. With Krillin, he was a known factor, someone who she knew and could read each move, someone whose capabilities she recognized and could adjust to.

Yamcha was far different. Already close to her strength level when they met, he was likely to have undergone training just like her in the hopes of winning the whole thing. _Let's see… with Yamcha, he's a primarily offensive fighter, who uses quick attacks to stagger his opponent; make them panic and get sloppy in their defence, leaving them wide open for any counterattack. His strategy's main issue is that it's very intense and could leave him exhausted if he does it too much. And he's likely still pretty tired from his fight with Giran- my fight with Krillin was far shorter and I regain my energy far faster than him. If I just play defensive and let him attack for a while, and wait for him to get tired, I could beat him relatively easily._

Chi-Chi blinked, and shook her head. _Or rather, that's what I would_ _be_ _say_ _ing_ _, if I weren't saying…_ _ **BRING IT ON, YAMCHA!**_ And with that, she charged forward.

Yamcha smacked her first punch aside, but her second one contacted his solar plexus, followed up with several to his shoulder and even more to his face. Frustrated, the bandit grabbed the girl's nimble wrists with his one hand, pinning them, before winding his right fist back and driving it into her face.

Chi-Chi flew back and skidded along the ground, coming to a stop on the other side of the arena. Wobbling, she stood up, wiping some blood from her bottom lip. The red from her right hand slowly began to blanket her entire vision. She didn't feel scared, or upset. She was just angry. Angry that this upstart would strike her with such a powerful blow! She should be more powerful than him, yet he was clearly even with her!

"Alright… not bad, Yamcha," Chi-Chi admitted, gritting her teeth to block out the pain, "guess I'm gonna have to actually try with you."

"I'm honoured, Your Highness," Yamcha said with a grin and a cheeky tone. Narrowing her eyes, Chi-Chi turned around and ran straight at the pillar behind her. Confused, Yamcha ran to follow, before stopping when he realized what she was doing.

Jumping at the pillar, Chi-Chi rebounded off of it and ran straight at Yamcha again, this time with far more precise blows. Yamcha winced with each block, as the hits were precise enough that even blocking stung like a normal hit, which made Yamcha thankful for his longer arms- if he'd been the same size as her, then she would be focusing all of those on his body, and he wouldn't be moving.

"Admit it, Yamcha! I'm better than you in every way! The only reason you're not down already is the size advantage!" Chi-Chi yelled, the speed and ferocity increasing with each successive hit, "I'm the perfect warrior! I'll win the Tenkaichi Budokai and prove it to the entire world! So just go down already!"

 **-R &R-**

From his position atop the wall, Kakarot sighed in relief at the ongoing match. _So, her warrior pride as a Saiyan is finally coming out. Yamcha, I wish to you good luck- I hope you survive this match with your wits... and balls... intact._

Feeling a tap on his shoulder, Kakarot looked up to see Krillin standing there, looking confused.

"What did this Yamcha guy do to make Chi-Chi so angry with him?" he asked.

Kakarot shook his head, "Well he shot her, but that's not so much of a big deal, as you saw with Launch."

"Yeah, bullets bounce off your skin," Krillin acknowledged.

"It's more of a matter of pride. They fought in the past, and Chi-Chi believes that losing to him now would be embarrassing," Kakarot said. Kakarot stood up and stretched. "Hold down the fort here, I'm gonna go check on something," he said to Krillin, patting him on the shoulder, before standing up and running along the wall. Quickly scaling the outside, Kakarot ran through the crowd until he came to the person he was looking for.

"Hey, Bulma; how're you liking the Tournament so far?" he asked.

The purple haired teen turned her head sharply at the sound of his voice and a smile immediately rose on her face.

"I can understand why people love it so much. Never watched the Tenkaichi Budokai before- was always too focused on my schoolwork or whatever else I was tinkering with to pay attention to it before. Now I see, the nail-biting aspect of the fighters that you're rooting for, whether they'll make it to the next round or not… it gives a person an adrenaline rush, almost like they're down there in arena fighting, themselves," Bulma said.

"It's a bit different to the feeling of actually being in the arena… actually being in front of everyone, feeling the vibrations through your fists on contact with your opponent, the taste of blood in your mouth from the hits your opponent lands, the sound of your heart pounding in your ears as the fight heats up," Kakarot took a deep breath in, closing his eyes and smiling, "there's nothing in the world that brings me more joy."

Bulma reached down and ruffled the boy's hair, changing the smile from one of bliss to one of entertainment. "Well then," Bulma said, grabbing him from under his arms and lifting him up and onto her shoulders, "let's watch the match until it's time for you to get back in there."

Kakarot looked down at her smiling face, her eyes shining as blue as the sky, before smiling back and nodding, "Right."

Bulma's smile only got brighter at that response, before she turned her head back to the tournament.

 **-R &R-**

Left right, right right, left right left, center. Even as he blocked, Chi-Chi kept swinging more and more. What's more, she was striking harder and more precise with each hit. If this kept up, she would start breaking bone with her strikes. _I can't lose now! I have to keep my promise! I'll win here, Chi-Chi's ego will survive to fight again next time!_ As a strike came in from Chi-Chi's right arm, Yamcha leaned back to avoid the strike. As expected, Chi-Chi kept her momentum up and swept a kick down, knocking Yamcha's feet out from under him.

As he fell forward, Yamcha's eyes narrowed at his opponent. _I have one shot! I have to do this now._ Ducking under Chi-Chi's follow up strike, Yamcha drew back his right arm. _Now, just focus on my hand just like I do during my Wolf Fang Fist…_ he felt his right arm warm up as he swung it forward, connecting with Chi-Chi's right knee.

The girl screamed in pain as Yamcha bounced back, before charging in again. "Wolf Fang Fist!" he called.

 **-R &R-**

"Wolf Fang What?" Krillin muttered to himself.

 **-R &R-**

Yamcha unleashed a barrage of blows on his small opponent, finishing with a strong uppercut punch to her jaw, lifting her into the air briefly, before she tumbled across the arena and came to a rest near the edge. The girl lay facing up, covered in cuts and bruises, especially around her eye.

"Hey, announcer!" Yamcha called, "start the count, will you?! I don't want to hurt her any more than I have to with this!"

" _Oh…_ _okay then!_ " the announcer said, "One… _Two… Three… Four… Five..._ "

As the announcer said 'Five,' Chi-Chi forced her onyx eyes open and used her left arm to push herself to her knees.

" _She's up! The fight continues!_ " the announcer called, running back out of the ring. Yamcha took a deep breath. _God damn it. Now I'll have to_ _use_ _ **that…**_ _I wanted to save it in case I fought Kakarot in the finals… but now it seems I'll have to risk it._

Gulping, knowing what he was about to do, he ran up to Chi-Chi and chopped down at her back with his right hand, grabbing her obi with his left. His hopes in that regard were confirmed: as Chi-Chi's face hit the stone, stunning the girl, her tail came unfurled from her waist. Seizing the opportunity, Yamcha grabbed her tail, letting the girl spin around and hit the ground hard again. He shook his head and squeezed in his grip, causing the tail's fur to bristle and the tail itself to shudder, but Chi-Chi made no sound.

The crowds, once cheering, all went silent at this sight. There had already been one child with a tail shown to be real- but this girl was someone known the world over, the heiress to one of the largest countries in the world, and yet she had one, too. And… it seemed grabbing the tail paralyzed them.

 **-R &R-**

"Huh, well that's not a way I expected him to go for victory, huh, Kakarot?" Bulma asked. But there was no response. Bulma looked up at Kakarot- his face was frozen, his eyes glazed over as he stared in Chi-Chi's direction, and his whole body was still. The boy's tail slowly snaked its way around Bulma's upper arm and wrapped itself tightly, before the boy and tail alike begun shuddering. Wetness dropped from the boy's eyes onto Bulma's face- the boy was crying.

"Kakarot, what is it?!" Bulma asked, frantically. Still no response. _There has to be some way to get through to him! Think, Bulma, think! What's something that works on him?!_ A thought occurred to Bulma- there was something that Chi-Chi did to get Kakarot's attention more than once when they had traveled together.

Bulma carefully aligned her index finger with the upper part of Kakarot's tail. Taking a deep breath, she flexed it back and flicked the tail. The boy shuddered one more time before tightening his grip on Bulma. She quickly looked up again to see the boy was looking at her.

"Kakarot, what's wrong?!" Bulma asked, likely more harshly than she meant. Kakarot shook his head and looked back at Chi-Chi.

"He's hurting her! She's screaming in pain, but no one can hear her except me!" Kakarot sobbed as the tears returned, "the vocal pitch is too far outside the range for any Earthling to hear!"

Bulma looked sharply back to Chi-Chi, whose back was to them. Bulma looked down and clasped her hands over her heart. _No… please don't hurt her, Yamcha! Please let her be okay!_

 **-R &R-**

Yamcha finished catching his breath, before looking down at the girl paralyzed beneath him. "If only you'd stayed down- I wouldn't have had to use this," he said, a sad tone in his voice. Shaking his head, he yanked hard, pulling the girl into the air before letting go. Chi-Chi went up, then came back down. As she came back down, Yamcha cocked his arm back and drove it into the girl's stomach, sending her flying out of the ring and over the wall.

 **-R &R-**

Wind… wind was rushing passed her. Chi-Chi blinked. She was flying passed several buildings on Papaya Island. _Did… that bastard! He squeezed my tail! Damn it, how do I get out of this?!_ Chi-Chi looked around rapidly. _What would Kakarot do?!_ Suddenly, it clicked. Chi-Chi cupped her hands at her side and focused.

"Kaaaa… Meeee..." a white and blue ball began to form in her hands, "Haaaa… Meeee..." She was almost at the ground when she thrust her hands forward, "HAAAA!" the blue and white beam surged out in front of her, pushing her backwards toward the arena, and into the air.

 **-R &R-**

" _Well then,_ " the announcer said, starting to walk into the arena, " _it seems that this battle is over!_ "

Yamcha relaxed and let his hands fall to his knees, smiling to himself.

"NOT YET IT ISN'T!" a female voice called from the air. Yamcha looked up in its direction, but only barely started to turn when something impacted his side. Hard. The force was so great, he lost his footing and went flying backwards. He tried to right himself, but to no avail, as his back smashed into the brick wall at the edge of the arena, severely cracking it, before he slid down and landed in the grass.

 **-R &R-**

"Did… did she just..." Bulma stuttered and pointed at the arena. Chi-Chi was lying prone in the center of the arena, her tail hanging beside her for all to see, clutching her head with her eyes squeezed shut in pain.

"She did," Kakarot said, in just as much shock as her, "she propelled herself into the air with the Kamehameha, then came flying back down, smashing into Yamcha's side and launching him out of the arena. Brilliant. I might have to use that sometime… though the head pain might be a disincentive to use it unless I have no other choice."

The announcer stood, seemingly unable to comprehend what just happened, before shaking his head and refocusing. " _And with a stunning come-from-behind victory, Chi-Chi has won Match #5 and moves on to be the youngest person to ever be in the finals of the Tenkaichi Budokai!_ "

With that announcement, Kakarot slid off Bulma's shoulders, and, with a nod to her scaled the wall and ran to Chi-Chi as fast as his legs could carry him, meaning that to any onlookers, he was suddenly at her side and wrapping her in a warm embrace. The girl smiled and hugged him back, finally letting herself relax.

She was okay, nothing would hurt her right now. It didn't matter what anyone else thought, she had won. She was going to the finals. And right now, she was both embracing and being embraced by her best friend, and no matter what else had happened… she was happy.

* * *

 **A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm trying to do these fight scenes well, but I'm never really sure about them... but hey, you guys seem to be enjoying it so far, so I'll keep writing these for you all.**

 **Current Matchups:**

 ** _Match #1: Chi-Chi vs. Krillin- Winner: Chi-Chi_**

 ** _Match #2: Yamcha vs. Giran- Winner: Yamcha_**

 ** _Match #3: Kakarot vs. Nam- Winner: Kakarot_**

 ** _Match #4: Bacterian vs. Jackie Chun- Winner: Jackie Chun_**

 _ **Match #5: Yamcha vs. Chi-Chi- Winner: Chi-Chi**_

 **Match #6: Jackie Chun vs. Kakarot**

 **Match #7: Chi-Chi vs. Match #6 winner**

 **Remember** **to Follow, Favourite, and, above all else, _REVIEW!_ I'll see you all next time!**


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